A 3D printer laboratory is opened at the AE+T department. The lab is open to all students and researchers of the Faculty for all their printing jobs, no matter how complex. “If we don't have the machine you need, we'll just build one.”

The lab currently has nine 3D printers, but this number could well rise significantly, as the machines can also print parts to create even better printers. The lab has a number of machines that work on the RepRap principle, in which 3D printers print parts for other printers. “For ourselves we are mainly occupied with designing and building printers”, says instructor/researcher Paul de Ruiter, member of the additive manufacturing team. “But we are very keen for people to come to us with their complicated print jobs. That can only make us smarter.”

The initiative for the lab came from Ate Snijder (chair of Structural Design), in close collaboration with the chair of Design Informatics. The working title 'De Schuur' ("The Shed") gives some idea of what the print lab aims to be: a place of discovery through experiment. You could compare it to the HP Garage that is now seen as the birthplace of Sillicon Valley. The lab has a couple of traditional 3D printers, but most of the printers have been built by the staff and students themselves. There's no money for expensive ready-made machines, so De Schuur is a place where you can experiment to your heart's content. Something that would cost tens of thousands of euros in the shop can be built by the lab team for just a couple of hundred euros. Kossel printers, for example. The largest, a 220 cm high Delta printer, can print objects up to 50 x 140 cm in size. This is perfect for creating complex, multifunctional cladding panels and double-curved panels, as well as for scale models of high-rise buildings. The lab will also be equipped with a Cobot for testing self-designed extruders. For example an extruder for producing carbon tubes.

Special filaments can be extremely expensive to buy, so De Schuur uses alternatives wherever possible. In addition to PLA, PET, nylon and polyester, the '3D experiment shed' gets through a huge amount of recyclable plastic, so there's no need to worry about expensive waste while experimenting. If a printing session produces a failure, it can just be thrown into the recycling bin to be melted down for new filament. The largest printer can run on granulate that costs around two euros per kilo. This makes the threshold for 3D printing very low.

Savings can also be made through smarter design. A super-lightweight construction, printed using a minimum of material, can be incredibly strong when combined with a smart design construction. And efficient construction, as seen in the natural world, produces less waste. But this doesn't mean that the 3D lab is only aimed at cheap print solutions. The initiator Ate Snijder hopes that he will be able to make progress in his own field of glass structures in De Schuur. “For the time being not by printing glass itself, because that requires very high temperatures, but by developing moulds and connections for glas.” You can see examples of what is produced in De Schuur – both machines and objects – on the website that will soon be launched. The blueprints for the printers can be found on the internet, so everything you build from them is completely open source.

Is the new lab really going to democratise 3D printing technology? The initiators are convinced it will, and have already seen the first successes. One graduate used the lab to print nodes for space frames at a cost of less than 20 euros each. This is around 50 times cheaper than standard nodes. De Ruiter: “3D printing provides enormous opportunities for architecture. We can produce an insulated cladding panel that captures water, purifies air and conducts electricity. And all with one printer.”

Anyone with a project that requires 3D printing is more than welcome to drop by for advice and instructions. The team is happy to be of help. In principle the machines can be used free of charge, but anyone using up a role of filament is expected to donate a new one.

Published: August 2015