Aug. 21, 2022 - Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) have developed a method for 3D printing tiny artistic ice structures. According to an article published on the university's official website, this high-speed, reproducible manufacturing method will "revolutionize" 3D printing technology in the future. In the meantime, the technology could be widely used in advanced manufacturing and biomedical engineering in the future.
Using our ice 3D printing process, we can create microscopic ice templates with smooth walls and smooth transition branching structures, which could be used in the future to make microscopic parts with well-defined internal voids," said Akash Garg, co-author of the study and a PhD scholar in mechanical engineering at the university.
Technical Background
Garg and Saigopalakrishna Yerneni, a postdoctoral associate in chemical engineering at CMU, collaborated on this research.
Water is considered the best choice for bioengineering applications because it is the most abundant substance on the earth's surface and the main building block of all living organisms. The simple and rapid phase change process of ice formation from water makes it a very environmentally friendly structural material.
Garg says, "There is no more biocompatible natural material than water."
Freeform Ice Printing (3D-ICE). a) Customized 3D printing system and its main components, including cooling system, motion table, piezoelectric nozzles. b) Piezoelectric inkjet nozzles are used to eject water droplets (diameter = 50 microns) onto a cold build platform kept at -35°C. The planar (X-Y) motion of the build platform is synchronized with the droplet discharge to print complex ice geometries
How does it work?
The printed ice structures are used as "reverse molding" or ice templates used as sacrificial geometries, and the ice structures are immersed in a cooled build material, such as resin in liquid or gel form.
After the material has set or cured, the water is removed. To this end, the ice can be melted to evacuate the water. Alternatively, ice can be sublimated by converting it to water vapor rather than liquid water. Because ice can be easily sublimated, it can be easily removed after casting and curing the surrounding structural material.
A high-resolution 3D printing system was used to deposit water droplets onto a temperature-controlled platform at -35 degrees Celsius, which rapidly converts water into ice.
The new process enables printing with smooth surfaces and branching geometries with smooth transitions by regulating the frequency of water droplet jetting and synchronizing it with the platform motion.
The researchers demonstrated this by printing a tree, a spiral around a pole, or even a one-and-a-half meter tall octopus figurine out of ice. Because of the rapid phase change of water and the strength of ice, 3D printing allows for arbitrary ice structures without the need for time-consuming layer-by-layer printing or support structures.
Garg explained that experiments were conducted to determine the print path, speed of motion and droplet frequency required to create light-skating ice structures with straight, tilted, branching and layered geometries in a reproducible manner.
Burak Ozdoganlar, associate director of the CMU Engineering Research Accelerator, which oversaw the study, explained: "This is an amazing achievement that will lead to exciting scientific advances."
He continues, "We believe this approach has tremendous potential to revolutionize tissue engineering and other fields that require microstructures with complex channels, such as microfluidics and soft robotics."
The team claims that in just one year, the ice 3D process could be used for engineering applications such as creating pneumatic channels for soft robots. However, clinical applications of tissue engineering will take much longer. In the future, this new process approach, could also lead to new opportunities for microfluidics, biomedical devices, flexible electronics and art.
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