Welding concept leads to stronger 3D printed parts

3D printing is often used in the prototyping stage of a design project, and those parts can be fragile and of little utility. Now, a doctoral student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University believes he has pioneered a countermeasure to transform the landscape of 3D printing today.

Brandon Sweeney and his advisor Dr Micah Green discovered a way to make 3D printed parts stronger and more applicable to real-world applications. Sweeney and Green applied the traditional welding concepts to bond the submillimetre layers in a 3D printed part together, while in a microwave.

3D printed layers are prone to fracturing, causing issues with the durability and reliability of the part when used in a real-world application, for example a custom printed medical device.

"I knew that nearly the entire industry was facing this problem," Sweeney said. "Currently, prototype parts can be 3D printed to see if something will fit in a certain design, but they cannot actually be used for a purpose beyond that."