A license to print (research) savings
By Paul Mignone
Regardless of your political persuasion, Australian tertiary education is going through some challenging times with regards to government funding. With Labour and Greens recently blocking the Coalition’s $2.3 billion worth of funding cuts (a policy which Labor originally proposed), the chances for increased government funding to the sector in the near future appear slim at best. While this tragic comedy plays out, it will be up to Universities, research institutes and researchers to find alternative forms of funding and/or cost efficiencies.
Enter 3D printing…
The net is saturated with examples of how the technology can speed up and reduce costs in manufacturing processes. Yet despite the recent boom in open source 3D printing technologies, its use in speeding up and reducing costs in academic research processes hasn’t been as extensive. One of the first off the mark to demonstrate this appears to be Associate Professor Joshua M. Pearce, from Michigan Technological University.
I posted about this group earlier on their fantastic efforts in developing the first open-source metal printer. Joshua’s research group has become well-known for cutting the costs of scientific research by designing open-source hardware using 3D printers and micro-controllers. He’s also recently published a book on the subject, which may well be the first ‘bible’ for low-cost research.
Image Source: http://tinyurl.com/n973fd6
On a personal level, this cost saving potential was realised through my own research. In July 2013, I went over to the ISIS facility to conduct an experiment on the Engin-X beamline. This device has the ability to use neutrons to investigate the internal stresses of components while under mechanical load. The experiment required the design of a specialised sample holder made of metal to hold the samples in the beamline.
The part was to be made of machined aluminium to conduct high temperature test runs. 3D printing was used to prototype the design of the holder. Using an Objet 3D printer, it produced a resin part with a resolution of 26 microns. In English, the quality of the print was so good, that if my experiments were conducted at room temperature, I wouldn’t have needed the aluminium version!
While the 3D printed holder was not used in the Engin-X experiments, the prototype exercise made me and my group aware of the time and cost saving potential of 3D printed apparatus in research. The picture below shows the time and cost difference of the two different sample holders. The final aluminium part costed approximately $600.00 (inc. material and labour), and had a lead time of approximately two months. The 3D printing service at ITS research was able to produce the resin part for approximately $13.30 (i.e. approximately 2% of the aluminium holder price), which was ready the next day (i.e., approximately 2% of the aluminium holder lead-time)!
The comparison of sample holder costs and lead-times.
While not every experiment is going to benefit from the benefits of 3D printed equipment, getting the research community aware and skilled in the technology will go a long way in helping them determine its suitability for their research. If suitable, it can only be a win/win outcome as it can potentially:
- Reduce the overall cost of research.
- Reduce the lead times in running experiments, therefore…
- …reducing the time to publication.
The 3D Printing Summer School will be the first attempt by #resbaz to educate Melbourne University researchers in this technology.
Stay tuned…
