渐变彩色3D打印袭来 使用粉状材料而非液态材料

iCAx开思网

新华网12月2日电 据美国科技博客Gizmodo报道，摄影、电视或打印机都最终从黑白时代走向了彩色时代，3D打印也在遵循这样的发展规律。最近，3D System宣布他们制成了世界上第一台连续渐变色3D打印机ProJet 4500。



目前还不清楚机器的价钱以及何时可以买到。ProJet 4500能够制造半刚性全彩塑料部件，颜色有比较丰富的过渡。机器看起来采用了激光烧结技术进行3D打印，这种技术使用激光来把粉状的材料一层一层地硬化，这和市场上可见的其他低端打印机模式不同。

虽然很多挤出式打印机也能提供多种颜色，但每次只能打印一种颜色，有色材料也不能混合来打印其他颜色，甚至是中间色。


一般来说彩色打印机更关注打印细节和饱和度，但是3D System着重推广的是ProJet 4500“快”的特性，也就是用这台机器生成的原型不需要上色就可以用于最终产品的决策。更重要的是，这款机器让我们更加接近《星际迷航》中描述的未来了。 译者：林杉

　　百度新闻与新华网国际频道合作稿件，转载请注明出处。

　　Full-Color 3D Printing Is Here, and It's Marvelous

　　Everything from photography, to television, to printers made the eventual evolution from black and white to full color. And following in those technological footsteps is the 3D printer, with 3D Systems recently announcing what it's claiming is the world's first continuous-tone full color plastic printer called the ProJet 4500.

　　Specific pricing and availability hasn't been revealed just yet, but the ProJet 4500 will produce plastic semi-rigid full-color parts complete with gradient transitions between the various tones. The 4500 looks like it uses the laser-sintering approach to 3D printing, where a laser is used to harden a powder-like material layer by layer―instead of the more popular extrusion technique used by cheaper printers hitting the market recently.

　　And while some extrusion printers do offer multiple color options, they can only print with one color at a time, and the tinted raw materials can't be mixed to produce other or even in-between tones.

　　And while the colors the printer produces are more on the subtle/desaturated side of things, the machine will emphasize the 'rapid' side of rapid-prototyping since parts and mockups won't have to be painted before being approved for final production. More importantly, the machine brings us one tantalizing step closer to the replicators Star Trek has promised us.

来源：新华国际



该贴已经同步到 iCAx开思网的微博

iCAx开思网