The fastest 3D printers produce smaller copies of sand grain

Austrian scientists broke the world record for fastest print speed and the smallest result from a 3D printer is smaller than a grain of sand.

The 3D printer has been developed and developed by the Institute of Materials Science and Technology at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna), which allows printing of microscopic objects based on Nanotechnology.

At a size smaller than a grain of sand, replicas of churches, landmarks, and racing cars were created by 3D printers. The printer also achieved impressive speed in just 4 minutes for each object is printed.

3d printer

Sophisticated car is made from a printer smaller than a grain of sand. Looking at the resulting image (microscopically), it's hard to imagine that the complex details printed are of very small size.

"Up to now, 3D printing has had a relatively slow print speed," says Jurgen Stampfl, a researcher at TU Vienna. "The speed of a typical 3D printer is only 5 millimeters per second, But our device can print 5m per second. "

The team is working to improve the 3D printer and use it in hospitals, with the goal of creating biological tissue.

3D printers make real objects in different materials. The technology of 3D printers is using plastics and metals as the primary materials for the printer, so that the printer uses lasers to melt the material until the molecules are reconnected. In the process called sintering.

However, researchers at TU Vienna say that the 3D printer is a product of both mechanical and chemical use of a special plastic for printing and engraving.