Developed a material that expands 40 times when 3D printed.

What is expected when constructing a lunar base in the future is the construction of a residential facility using a 3D printer made of lunar sand. However, in order to create a large structure, it is necessary to first produce a large number of parts that can be made into a 3D printer, and then move them to join, bond and weld.

The UC San Diego research group is developing a foamed resin that expands the size of the original printed by 3D printer up to 40 times. Not only 3D printers, but all machine tools such as lathes, milling machines, drilling machines, etc., cannot be processed more than the size of the machine. If you want to make something big, you need to divide it somewhere and then join it in some form later. However, the research team selected 2-Hydroxyethyl methacrylat as the 3D printing resin material and investigated an initiator to polymerize it by combining it with a blowing agent and photopolymerization.

As a result of repeated tests, a blowing agent different from that used for polystyrene was found. It is said that in the test of printing a resin using this material as a 3D CAD model and heating it at 200 degrees for 10 minutes, the volume expanded by 4,000% compared to immediately after 3D printing.

The research team expects this material to be useful in fields such as architecture, aerospace, and biomedicine. In addition, it is believed that there is potential for application to floatation devices and life jackets that float in water. Of course, if the moon uses this technology to create a base, the moon has a surface temperature of 110 degrees in direct sunlight, so it may be necessary to combine materials to expand at this temperature. Related information can be found here .