{"id":25947,"date":"2020-12-08T00:05:33","date_gmt":"2020-12-08T00:05:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/?p=25947"},"modified":"2020-12-07T14:29:22","modified_gmt":"2020-12-07T14:29:22","slug":"3d-printing-variations-in-glossiness-08120204","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/3d-printing-variations-in-glossiness-08120204\/","title":{"rendered":"MIT 3D printing system reproduces realistic variations in glossiness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently, MIT researchers developed a 3D printing<\/a> system able of giving an object more salient features by reproducing its glossiness. Gloss remains a challenge to 3D print because hardware isn\u2019t designed to deal with the different viscosities of the varnishes that lend surfaces a glossy or matte look. Therefore, researcher Michael Foshey and his colleagues have been working on a solution which could enable realistic variations in glossiness across a 3D printed surface. The advance could aid fine art reproduction and the design of prosthetics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Indeed, this technology could be used to faithfully reproduce fine art, allowing near-flawless replicas to be distributed to museums that don\u2019t have access to originals. It might also help create more realistic-looking prosthetics. Michael Foshey adds that the advance represents a step toward visually perfect 3D printing, \u201cwhere you could almost not tell the difference between the object and the reproduction.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

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To the right, the part was 3D printed using MIT’s system to reproduce glossy and matte finishes | Image via MIT News<\/p><\/div>\n

Reproducing variations in glossiness<\/h3>\n

As a matter of fact, glossiness is simply a measure of how much light is reflected from a surface. Varnishes that lend a glossy finish tend to be less viscous and to dry into a smooth surface. Varnishes that lend a matte finish are more viscous. Usual 3D printing hardware is not made to reproduce this varying reflectivity. The more viscous varnish (for the matte effect) contains large polymers that, when dried, protrude randomly from the surface and absorb light. Those polymers pose a dilemma for 3D printers, whose skinny fluid channels and nozzles aren\u2019t built for this texture. \u201cThey\u2019re very small, and they can get clogged easily<\/em>,\u201d explains Michael Foshey.<\/p>

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Therefore, the researchers developed a printer with large nozzles and the ability to deposit varnish droplets of varying sizes, given that size also affects precision. The varnish is stored in the printer\u2019s pressurized reservoir, and a needle valve opens and closes to release varnish droplets onto the printing surface. A variety of droplet sizes is achieved by controlling factors like the reservoir pressure and the speed of the needle valve\u2019s movements. The more varnish released, the larger the droplet deposited. The same goes for the speed of the droplet\u2019s release. \u201cThe faster it goes, the more it spreads out once it impacts the surfac. So we essentially vary all these parameters to get the droplet size we want<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The researchers tested the technology on a variety of objects, mostly flat printouts with textures that varied by half a centimeter in height. Michael Foshey is happy with them: \u201cThey definitely have more of a feel of what you\u2019re actually trying to reproduce<\/em>.\u201d You can find more information HERE<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

What do you think of this new system developed by MIT? Let us know in a comment below or on our\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0pages! Sign up for our free weekly\u00a0Newsletter<\/a>, all the latest news in 3D printing straight to your inbox!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently, MIT researchers developed a 3D printing system able of giving an object more salient features by reproducing its glossiness. Gloss remains a challenge to 3D print because hardware isn\u2019t designed to deal with the different viscosities of the varnishes…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6064,"featured_media":25949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-3d-printers"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6064"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25947"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25950,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25947\/revisions\/25950"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}