b"Look-AheadPRINTING LARGE OBJECTS FASTBy Ken Schnepf Walker. The three men started toparts or many different small parts develop a nano-3D printer. at once.T he High-Area Rapid Printing 3DTheyrealizedearlythattheThe company has an ever-ex-printer is sufficiently big and fastprinter could print both large andpanding library of materials that to print objects as large as an adulttiny structures. HARP can use, including ceram-human in just a couple of hours. TheWe recognized immediately thatics and durable, tough elastomeric ability to rapidly print parts on de- with HARP, we had the ability torubber. The key advantages of the mand could make parts warehous- transform manufacturing, Hedrickmachine are fast throughput and ing and expensive molds things ofsaid. We transitioned our focusthe ability to produce industrial-the past. Developed by Northwest- from nano to macro, and the threegrade parts at a cost point that en-ern University researchers, HARPof us founded Azul 3D to transitionables manufacturers to move be-yond prototyping with 3D printing, Hedrick said.HARP uses a new, patent pending version of stereolithographya type of 3D printing that converts liq-uid plastic into a solid. The machine prints on a vertically moving plate and projects ultraviolet light to cure liquid resins into hardened plastic. HARP is in a class of 3D printers that uses high-resolution light pat-terning to produce parts that dont need extensive post-processing.This method can print pieces that are hard or elastic. These continu-ally printed parts are mechanically robust as opposed to the laminated structures common with other 3D-printing technologies, according to The HARP 3D printer is suitable for producing both large and small parts. Azul 3D Azul 3D.Thanks to a nonstick liquid that will be available by next year fromthe technology from the lab to thebehaves like liquid Teflon, the tech-Azul 3D Inc., Evanston, Illinois. factory. nology of the machine bypasses HARPenablesmachiniststoThe prototype HARP is 3.96 mthe problem of large amounts of make jigs, tools and molds quickly(13') tall with a 0.23-sq.-m (2.5-sq.- heat being generated during print-and efficiently out of durable mate- ft.) print bed and can print about 0.5ing. HARP projects light through a rials, said James Hedrick, CEO andm (1.5') in an hour. The machine iswindow to solidify resin. The liquid co-founder of Azul 3D. suitable for printing individual largeflows over the window to remove He said large parts can be madeheat and then circulates it through in a single piece from industrial- about the author a cooling unit.grade materials. 3D printing and HARP offer tre-WhileHedrickcompletedhisKen Schnepf is amendous opportunities for manu-doctorate at Northwestern underfreelance writerfacturing in tooling and for making the supervision of professor Chadbased in theend-use parts, Hedrick said.CTEChicago area. He Mirkin, he worked in a laboratorycan be reached atFor more information about Azul with postdoctoral student [email protected]. 3D, visit www.azul3d.com.64APRIL 2020LookAhead.indd 64 3/16/20 5:05 PM"