Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Plastic car parts are lighter than metal in engines and car interiors; sav-
ings in weight have environmental beneits. Plastic packaging saves lives by
preserving food. Plastics make jobs: The plastics industry is one of the largest
employers in the United States. The packaging industry, a cousin to the plas-
tics industry, is even larger; worldwide, the packaging industry ranks third
to only food and energy.
For better or for worse, our economy revolves around plastic goods. By giv-
ing regular people the power to make things from plastic at home, 3D print-
ing opens up yet another new channel of plastic manufacturing. To become
a greener form of manufacturing, 3D printing technologies need to embrace
new, ecofriendly raw materials.
Printing recycled milk jugs and dirt
To learn more about green materials, I spoke with Mark Ganter, an engi-
neering professor at the University of Washington in Seattle. Mark explained
that “Most of the printing materials on the market are not really very Earth
friendly.” Mark and fellow professor Duane Storti run the Solheim Lab, a hub
for radical 3D printing at the University of Washington. Years ago, Mark and
Duane Storti both sacriiced a month's salary to purchase a 3D printer for their
lab, one of the irst on campus. They haven't looked back since.
One of the lab's major research areas is biodegradable 3D printing, includ-
ing developing and testing ecofriendly and recycled materials. Students in the
Solheim lab 3D print in “everything from sugars, to wood, to crab shells,” said
Mark. One student 3D printed an experimental mixture that involved adding
blood as the adhesive, because of its good clotting capacity.
Mark explained that a 3D printer can fabricate “basically anything that
can be powdered to an appropriate particle size, and I mean anything.” The
key is to grind a powder down to the right ine-ness and texture to allow it
to be spread in paper-thin layers. Once a material is ground into powder, an
appropriate adhesive must be found. This adhesive powder is mixed with
the material powder and the mixture is placed into the print bed, and spread
into a paper-thin layer of mixture. The print head then lays down a solvent
to activate the adhesive material to hold the powder together to form layers.
