Image of the Week - 22 July 2003

Testing the Z406 3D Color Printer

Kingsley Allan holds a model of the Peoria area watershed manufactured directly from computer data representing the area on the ITG's newly installed ZCorp model 406 3D color printer. In the inset, various chemical models and artistic structures that have been used as test prints are displayed, giving the observer a reference for the types of objects that can be manufactured using the new system.
The Z406 operates like a standard inkjet printer, only it prints layer after layer of patterns onto an ever-increasing volume of plaster powder. When complete, the loose, unbound powder must be vacuumed and blown away from the object to prepare it for infiltration of hardening agents like ethyl cyanoacrylate ester.
The system is currently in testing phase in the VMIL, and users of the ITG's labs who have projects that would benefit from the manufacture of a solid model should contact Daniel Weber or Benjamin Grosser.

Image Courtesy: Kingsley Allan, Ilya Zharov, Daniel Weber and Benjamin Grosser

Contact: kingsley@uiuc.edu, weber@uiuc.edu