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Bionic construction in 3D printing | 3D ACTIVATION

Bionic construction in 3D printing

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Learning from nature: The principle of bionic construction and how it can be implemented thanks to 3D printing

The idea of ​​bionics is based on the idea of ​​transferring solutions from nature to technology. After all, it is obvious that what evolution has produced over the course of millions of years must have proven itself in practice.

In concrete terms, this means that living beings of animal and plant species are usually forms and structures that are optimally adapted to their respective habitat, whose great strength – after all, this is what the hard struggle for survival in nature demands – consists above all in using as little as possible material and energy expenditure.

Bionic Construction – From Leonardo da Vinci to 3D Printing

So what could be more obvious, especially in times of growing awareness of the finiteness of our resources, than to transfer exactly these principles and models to technical systems? This idea formed the cornerstone of bionics, which was pioneered over 500 years ago Leonardo da Vinci belonged, whose (if not very suitable) flying machines should copy the flight of birds.

Insofar as bionics imitated coarser forms of nature, such as Velcro or wind tunnel, the implementation of which has been the core of technical production for decades. However, the manufacturing processes commonly used to date have reached their limits when it comes to implementing complex shapes and structures from nature.

Thanks to 3D printing, this is now beginning to change: For the first time, developers – also and especially in bionic construction – have practically unlimited design and construction freedom, and tool-free production (which was possible for the first time) saves time and money.

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Aircraft construction in particular benefits from bionics generated by 3D printing

For example, the bionic design enables gripping organs (so-called handling assistants) that function entirely on the model of a human hand. However, the most important field of application for 3D printing bionics is aircraft construction, which ultimately makes it possible in a special way lightweight construction. This in turn can make a decisive contribution to reducing kerosene consumption and thus to improving the CO2 balance of the entire aviation industry.

Bionic construction in 3D printingBionic construction in 3D printingIt should therefore come as no surprise that the German Future Prize 2015 also went to the developers of a 3D-printed bionic holding and connecting element (a so-called “brackets”) went, which is to be used on board the Airbus A350 XWB. The Saarland University of Applied Sciences (HTW Saar) has also been offering a special master’s degree in “Flyerbionics” since the 2014 summer semester. After all, the industry is desperately looking for well-trained specialists.

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