N E W S
Kiwi 3D printed titanium engine impresses
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REN085
Engineering a
titanium implant
diamond finish
Many engineering companies
throughout New Zealand will be
interested in what scientists at
Australia’s RMIT University are
doing in the field of titanium
implants, coating the biocompatible
material with diamonds to
reduce the chances of the body
rejecting the metal.
The team has been using a
3D printing technique called
selective laser melting; a laser
melts and fuses titanium powder
particles to form a three-dimensional
object. Then, through a
microwave plasma process, the
implants are coated with more
titanium combined with synthetic
diamond.
What’s left is a scaffold-like
structure that encourages
biological tissue to grow into it.
A diamond-encrusted implant
PhotoCredit: RMIT University
The University of Canterbury (UC)
Eco-marathon team is again coming
home from Singapore triumphant, after
beating more than 100 teams from
21 countries at the Shell Eco-marathon
Asia 2018 event.
The student team has won this year’s
Technical Innovation Award, an offtrack
prize which includes a trophy and
US$3000, in UC’s second Eco-marathon
competition entry after competing
in the international event last year at
Changi race track.
The judges say that the UC team, “was
awarded the Technical Innovation Award
for the self-designed 3D-printed titanium
engine in their UrbanConcept car,
which makes for a stronger engine with
finer, more intricate details”.
The student team, which meshed the
use of 3D-printing with the traditional
machine, was lauded for taking a holistic
approach to designing and printing the
complete engine in a way that is not only
optimised for efficient production of the
printed parts, but also for optimised engine
fuel efficiency.
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