from Hacker News

The First 3D-Printed Steel Bridge

by odabaxok on 4/3/18, 7:34 AM with 51 comments

• by jstanley on 4/3/18, 7:49 PM

  I recommend the video, it includes some footage of the printing process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STAHy6hTP14

  Unlike traditional 3d metal printing, which works by laying down a powder which is then baked in an oven to fully sinter it, this bridge seems to be constructed by directly welding additional metal to the existing structure.

  Here's a fun DIY attempt at the same kind of idea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFXniBbgbw0 (and, if you're into home machining, almost all of the other videos on his channel are very enjoyable too).

• by grownseed on 4/3/18, 8:19 PM

  Commenting on this while my 3D printer is making parts for my new 3D printer, with parts I designed from the comfort of my own home. 3D printing and the RepRap movement have managed to get me truly excited about something for the first time since I took up programming 20 something years ago.

  We're not quite at the fully consumer-ready stage yet, there is a lot of tinkering and know-how that would be too much for the average consumer. I'd say the current state of 3D printing is at the same level 2D printing was ~40 years ago (comparatively), but I'm confident we'll reach a similar stage within the next few years.

  For those interested, the RepRap community is extremely active and there are lots of open-source projects (including hardware) to get involved with.

• by eloff on 4/3/18, 7:03 PM

  Just beautiful. The ability of 3D printing, not just to automate a traditional construction process, but to enable radically different designs is going to create a whole new style of architecture. Many of the old constraints don't apply and the human imagination is given a freer reign. There's still that pesky law of gravity that must be respected, but otherwise this offers a remarkable freedom.

• by opencl on 4/3/18, 8:00 PM

  The article is light on technical details but they apparently converted a normal industrial welding robot into a giant FDM machine that deposits 1-3 KG per hour per nozzle. Really interesting. From the photos it looks like the layers don't even have to be parallel to each other.

• by skookumchuck on 4/3/18, 11:56 PM

  While an amazing new technique, I'm a bit disappointed that it was used to create an "art" bridge. As an engineer, I'd be more interested in what a bridge would look like if it was pure utilitarian - the only material on it is what must be on it, not what is required by machining costs and stock material shapes.

  Before anyone scoffs that this must result in nerdy and ugly shapes, airplanes are beautiful shapes and none of that is for aesthetics or artistic purposes. It's simply the best shape for flying. As manufacturing techniques improve, the airplane shapes get more subtly flowing forms, and get even more beautiful.

• by jacquesm on 4/3/18, 11:45 PM

  Wasn't this the first?

  https://www.tudelft.nl/en/2015/io/the-first-3d-printed-bridg...

  Ah, it is the same project only a bit delayed and they've redesigned the bridge itself and moved the project indoors during the printing phase (which makes good sense).

• by pasta on 4/3/18, 6:27 PM

  At first I was a little shocked it took 6 months to print (weld if you like). But thinking about it, it doesn't seem that long for such a complicated design.

  Great work!

• by fudged71 on 4/3/18, 9:04 PM

  There was a section of this bridge on display at the Autodesk Gallery in San Francisco. Very heavy :)

• by LifeLiverTransp on 4/3/18, 6:42 PM

  Such beauty, such aery reduction to the basics...

• by karmicthreat on 4/3/18, 7:53 PM

  What was the new type of steel they used?