Multi-jet ice 3D printing

Abstract

Purpose Multi-jet deposition of the materials is a matured technology used for graphic printing and 3 D printing for a wide range of materials. The multi-jet technology is fine-tuned for liquids with a specific range of viscosity and surface tension. However, the use of multi-jet for low viscosity fluids like water is not very popular. This paper aims to demonstrate the technique, particularly for the water-ice 3 D printing. 3 D printed ice parts can be used as patterns for investment casting, templates for microfluidic channel fabrication, support material for polymer 3 D printing, etc. Design/methodology/approach Multi-jet ice 3 D printing is a novel technique for producing ice parts by selective deposition and freezing water layers. The paper confers the design, embodiment and integration of various subsystems of multi-jet ice 3 D printer. The outcomes of the machine trials are reported as case studies with elaborate details. Findings The prismatic geometries are realized by ice 3 D printing. The accuracy of 0.1 mm is found in the build direction. The part height tends to increase due to volumetric expansion during the phase change. Originality/value The present paper gives a novel architecture of the ice 3 D printer that produces the ice parts with good accuracy. The potential applications of the process are deliberated in this paper.

A sustainable formwork system based on ice pattern and sand mould for fabricating customised concrete components

“…Thirdly, the proposed formwork system is flexible and the fabrication of ice pattern with desired shapes can be achieved with the help of digital techniques, making the production of free-form and precise geometries feasible. Digital fabrication of ice structure has been reported in literature (Kamble et al , 2021), which could be incorporated into the proposed formwork system for future applications. In addition to CNC milling, 3D printing of ice may be an alternative for the fabrication of ice pattern.…”

Recent Advances in Cryogenic 3D Printing Technologies

“…Kamble et al developed a multi‐jet ice 3D printing system. [ 27 ] A print head from Xaar Plc. was used for the multi‐jet purpose.…”

Freeform 3D Ice Printing (3D‐ICE) at the Micro Scale

“…However, the voxel‐based approach poses challenges in the fabrication of structures with smooth surfaces and hierarchical geometries with smooth transitions, especially when the cross‐sectional dimensions are different from the droplet size. In another recent work, [ 9 ] researchers used a multi‐nozzle inkjet printing system to fabricate ice structures. A layer‐by‐layer approach was used, enabling 2.5D (extruded geometry) ice structures to be fabricated.…”

“…[6] Recently, a few works have demonstrated droplet-based inkjet printing of water to print micro-scale ice templates. [7][8][9] The inkjet ice printing method was first introduced by Zheng et al [7,8] The authors used a voxel-based ice printing method, where a voxel was frozen before the next voxel was deposited above it. Each independent voxel can either be an individual droplet or an agglomeration of multiple droplets deposited by using a high-frequency burst, referred to as "the trigger mode."…”

“…Recently, a few works have demonstrated droplet‐based inkjet printing of water to print micro‐scale ice templates. [ 7–9 ] The inkjet ice printing method was first introduced by Zheng et al. [ 7, 8 ] The authors used a voxel‐based ice printing method, where a voxel was frozen before the next voxel was deposited above it.…”