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How much does your 3D printing service cost?

The cost of your 3D printed parts depends on factors such as part volume, part complexity, choice of material, which 3D printing technology is used, and if any post processing is required. For more details on these cost factors, see our article on the cost of 3d printing. To check the cost of your 3D printed part, simply upload a CAD (.STL) file and select your material and 3D printing technology to receive a quote within seconds.

How do you guarantee the quality of my prints?

Your parts are made by experienced 3D printing shops within our network. All facilities are regularly audited to ensure they consistently meet the Hubs quality standard. We include a standardized inspection report with every order and offer a First Article Inspection service on orders of 100+ units.

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You can select the right 3D printing process by examining which materials suit your need and what your use case is.

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For more help, read our guide to selecting the right 3D printing process. Find out more about Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) and Stereolithography (SLA).

How can I reduce the cost of my 3D prints?

In order to reduce the cost of your 3D prints you need to understand the impact certain factors have on cost. The main cost influencing factors are the material type, individual part volume, printing technology and post-processing requirements.

Once these have been decided, an easy way to further cut costs is to reduce the amount of material used. This can be done by decreasing the size of your model, hollowing it out, and eliminating the need for support structures.

To learn more, read our full guide on how to reduce the cost of 3D printing.

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Long-awaited 3D-printed stainless steel bridge opens in Amsterdam

James Parkes | 19 July 2021 Leave a comment

A 12-metre 3D-printed pedestrian bridge designed by Joris Laarman and built by Dutch robotics company MX3D has opened in Amsterdam six years after the project was launched.

The bridge, which was fabricated from stainless steel rods by six-axis robotic arms equipped with welding gear, spans the Oudezijds Achterburgwal in Amsterdam's Red Light District.

Named MX3D Bridge, it was designed by Dutch studio Joris Laarman Lab in collaboration with MX3D, a technology company co-founded by Laarman, and engineering firm Arup.

The structure used 4,500 kilograms of stainless steel, which was 3D-printed by robots in a factory over a period of six months before been craned into position over the canal this year.

Its curving S-shaped form and balustrades with lattice-style perforations were designed using parametric modelling software.

The team behind the bridge claimed the technique showed how 3D-printing technology can lead to more efficient structures that use less material.

"This robotic technology finally allows larger optimized designs to be 3D-printed in metal," said MX3D co-founder Gijs van der Velden.

"This causes significant weight reduction and reduced impact for parts manufactured in the tooling, oil and gas and construction industries."

The technique can lead to more sustainable structures, the team claimed. "The industry is facing a huge challenge in becoming carbon-neutral in 2050," said Arup structural engineer Stijn Joosten.

"By stepping up our game and the will to make a change as designers and engineers, we can bring the necessary innovation to make a difference in tomorrow's built environment."

Joris Laarman's canal bridge in Amsterdam could take 3D printing "to a higher level"

However, architect Philip Oldfield calculated that the stainless steel used in the structure has 27.7 tonnes of embodied carbon.

"Stainless steel has an embodied carbon of 6. 15kgCO2/kg," tweeted Oldfield, who is head of the art, design and architecture school at the University of New South Wales in Australia. "This bridge then has an #embodiedcarbon of at least 27.7 tonnes of CO2 to span a few metres."

The Alan Turing Institute and Arup fitted the structure with a network of sensors that allows the bridge to collect data and build a digital twin to keep track of its performance and health.

The digital twin will monitor corrosion, load changes, environmental conditions and pedestrian use in efforts to further data-centric design.

Laarman had the idea for the bridge after combining robotic arms with welding machines to create a machine capable of printing furniture. "By adding small amounts of molten metal at a time, we are able to print lines in mid-air," explained Laarman at the time.

The welding machine later formed the basis of MX3D, which Laarman co-founded to explore the potential for printing larger-scale objects.

The bridge has undergone multiple iterations since the project was launched in 2015, with the opening originally slated for 2017.

The original plan was to print the structure across the canal in situ, with robots working from both banks welding the bridge beneath them until they met in the middle.

The final iteration saw the bridge built in two parts at an off-site facility. Its main span was completed in April 2018 with the deck printed in October that year.

The structure was strengthened to be more in line with council regulations and to protect the structure against any potential boat collisions.

First tenants move into 3D-printed home in Eindhoven

Although this is believed to be the first 3D-printed stainless steel bridge, bridges have previously been 3D printed from other materials. In 2017, construction company BAM Infra built what they claimed was the world's first 3D-printed concrete bridge.

Photography is by Thea van den Heuvel unless stated otherwise.

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What the first 3D printed steel bridge looks like

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Photo: Mashable / YouTube

The world's first 3D printed steel bridge has been installed in Amsterdam. The project was ready three years ago, but the installation of the bridge was constantly delayed

What's happening

• On July 15, the world's first 3D printed steel bridge was opened in Amsterdam. It connects the embankments of the Oudesijds Achterburgwal canal. The grand opening was attended by Queen Maxima of the Netherlands.
• The structure weighs 6 tons and is 12 meters long.
• The bridge was printed by four robots by welding layers of stainless steel wire, it took them 4.5 tons of steel and six months to make a span of 12 meters. Then coastal supports and decorative elements were made.
• This project was developed by the laboratory of Joris Laarmann and ABB, Air Liquide, ArcelorMittal, Autodesk, AMS Institute and Lenovo, while the Amsterdam-based company MX3D was fabricating and installing the structure.
• More than ten sensors are built into the bridge, with the help of which it will be possible to monitor its condition and deformation. Thus, he will himself indicate the need for repair. The sensors will also count the number of pedestrians crossing the bridge each day.
• The structure was installed for two years as a replacement for the conventional bridge, which will be under reconstruction at that time.
• This bridge was first presented at Dutch Design Week Eindhoven 2018, where the project won the Dutch Design Award and the Audience Award. After that, the finished bridge lay in storage for another three years: first, in anticipation of the reconstruction of the canal, then due to the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown.

What does it mean

In recent years, there has been an active development of 3D printing technology in construction. The Netherlands seems to be on a roll with this trend, with the first fully 3D-printed residential building in the EU populated in the suburbs of Eindhoven in early May, followed by the opening of the world's first 3D-printed steel bridge.

We have already said that 3D printing is the future of construction and design. Compared to classic buildings, 3D printing has a number of undeniable advantages, such as short construction times, reduced economic and environmental costs, and ease of execution of complex shapes.

“This is not just about reducing and optimizing construction costs, but about giving architects and designers a new tool, a very cool new tool, with which they can rethink the design of their architecture and their projects,” notes Tim Görtjens, co-founder of MX3D, a bridge builder.

Mika Mos, member of the council of the municipality of Amsterdam, expressed the hope that this construction will also help the city attract quality new tourists:

“This could attract a new type of visitor, those more interested in architecture and design, which will change the perception of this area (famous for nightclubs and noisy parties. — RBC Trends ).”

Updated on 07/30/2021

Text

Ksenia Yanushkevich

Top of the trend

Related materials

World's first 3D printed steel bridge installed in Amsterdam

News

a robotic 3D printer using electric arc deposition technology was thrown through one of the canals in the center of Amsterdam.

The project took nearly six years to complete. In addition to the obvious difficulties with the development of production technology, the company also faced other obstacles. Work on the metal structure itself was completed back in 2018, after which the bridge was sent to storage pending the completion of the reconstruction of the water channel, as the municipal authorities feared that the old masonry could collapse under the weight of the new structure. Then a covid surprise arrived from Wuhan, and only now they finally decided to install the bridge in the allotted place.

This is an all steel structure made by a multi-axis robotic arm with a welding machine. The consumable material, of course, is the usual welding wire, the productivity reaches about two kilograms per hour. This is the main advantages of the technology of additive manufacturing by electric arc deposition or WAAM (Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing): such a scheme is much faster and cheaper than laser or electron beam synthesis technologies on a substrate using expensive fine powders, moreover, there are no strict restrictions on the dimensions of printed materials. products. On the other hand, the resolution is not high, and the compatibility with various metals and alloys is limited, but in this particular case, both the material and the resolution are quite suitable for the task.

Designed using Autodesk Dreamcatcher CAD using topological optimization, reducing the weight of the 12-meter bridge to approximately four tons.

Designed with multiple sensors to monitor structural integrity, vibration, strain, stress and weather conditions. All this will help, on the one hand, ensure the safety of the pedestrian flow, and, on the other hand, improve the design methodology and 3D printing algorithms for future projects.

In terms of algorithms, MX3D has been offering its software developments to the commercial market since 2019. This is partly a forced measure, because due to the low payback and high costs of research and development work, the company faced serious financial difficulties. The guys decided to get additional income from licensed sales of the Metal XL software package, which provides support for the full cycle of additive manufacturing using WAAM technology - from design to 3D printing.

Installation of the sensors, finishing touches on the welding machine and testing of the design will take a few more days, the commissioning of the bridge is scheduled for the second half of this month.

MX3D WAAM bridge Amsterdam

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