Teen invents liquid-metal 3D printer

Design News has reported that a teenage inventor, who wanted to create a prototype for a project he was working on, has developed a 3D printing machine that can print objects out of molten metal and has the potential to transform manufacturing. Five years ago, then 19-year-old Zachary Vader aimed to 3D-print in metal a proof of concept for a gas turbine generator that he was working on. Vader was a student at the University at Buffalo (UB) at the time. In the process he discovered that 3D metal printing wasn’t a viable option for the project, so he decided to do something about it, inventing his own metal printer with the help of his father Scott, a mechanical engineer.

The breakthrough in Zachary’s invention came when he thought to expose molten metal in a confined chamber with an orifice to a pulsed magnetic field, the Vaders said. The transient field induces a pressure with the metal that ejects a droplet, which was the key to making droplets of liquid metal eject from a nozzle.

Now Vader Systems is producing and marketing the machine Zachary invented, with the younger Vader serving as CTO of the company.

The machine represents a major leap forward in the ability to print 3D objects in metal, according to University at Buffalo engineers. While other metal printers exist, most use a process of laying down powered metal and melting it with a laser or electron beam. This process is flawed because some particles of the powder do not get melted, creating weakened spots.

In the Vader Systems machine, called the Mk1, an electrically pulsed magnetic field permeates liquid metal in an ejection chamber and creates circulating electrical currents that interact with the magnetic field to produce a pressure that squeezes a droplet out of the ejector nozzle.

“The technology — which we call ‘MagnetoJet’ — is surprisingly simple,” Vader explained. “Metal wire is fed into a heated chamber, where it becomes molten. This molten media is then propelled electromagnetically from a carefully crafted nozzle. The process mimics drop-on-demand inkjet technology and is based upon the principles of magnetohydrodynamics, or the manipulation of conductive fluids using a magnetic field.”

The company is planning to deliver experimental units of its Mk1 printer that can print aluminium at deposition rates of up to 450 g per hour to US researchers and early adopter manufacturing partners.