Israeli-based 3D printing technology company Micron3DP has taken its first steps to normalizing the printing of glass.

We’ve covered Micron3DP before on ALL3DP, back when the prospect of printing glass was fraught with complications and inefficiencies.

Time travel back to 2015, and 3D printing glass is a difficult process. Limited to simple shapes and low resolutions, there are glass-like filaments that can offer strong, transparent prints, but the real thing has always proven a tough one to crack.

Fast forward to today, and Micron3DP has made great strides in its glass printing tech. Recently, it announced that it has installed several Alpha builds of its own glass 3D printer.

Eran Gal-Or, CTO of Micron3DP explains:

“We are constantly improving our glass 3D printing technology and we are proud to operate our first Alpha printers at our facilities , proving the ability to print high-resolution complex glass parts with a layer thickness as low as 100 microns”

Micron3DP’s printers use a process much like FDM (fused deposition modeling). The only difference is that its hot end could really be described as a very hot end. An extremely high temperature is needed to extrude the molten glass.

To be exact, the soda lime or borosilicate material extrudes at about 1,000 degrees Celsius. The build area measures in at 200 x 200 x 300mm. Apparently, the print time is comparable to a typical modern day FDM machine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju6BtrIzz08

Possible Applications of Micron3DP 3D Printed Glass

As one of the world’s most common man-made materials, the benefits of using glass are well documented. For example, it is a staple of the medical and chemical industries thanks to its resistance to heat and chemicals. In addition, it is easily sterilizable and bio-compatible.

When 3D printed, these benefits still apply.

However, with the possibilities of highly detailed shapes with few errors made possible through 3D printing — a new era of complex glass structures could be on the horizon.

At least, this is what Micron3DP appears to be indicating, with Arik Bracha, CEO of Micron3DP saying “We are confident that there are many applications in these various markets which are waiting to be explored along the road. We are open for any ideas coming from engineers, designers, artist and other professionals that will see the big potential of using this new technology.”

Micron3DP currently operates many Alpha builds of its printers at its base in Israel, and has expressed the intent to install the next phase of machines before the end 2017.

Source: Press release