Fastest extrusion 3D printer (prototype)

In November 2017, scientists at Massachusetts Institute of technology in Cambridge, USA, demonstrated a new method of 3D printing using extruded plastics (the most common method of commercial 3D printing). Conventional extruding 3D printers are limited by the speed at which they can melt plastic filament and deposit it to build up 3D print layers. The new MIT technique, called FastFFF, uses a combination of a screw-type feeder to grip and push the plastic through the dispensing head (unlike conventional printers that use powered pulleys) and a high-power laser to melt the plastic before it gets to the extruding head (again, unlike conventional machines that melt the plastic in the head nozzle itself). The net effect of these innovations is to extrude material 10 times faster than the average 20 cubic centimetres per hour, thus items can be printed in much shorter times than currently possible. When commercialized, this will improve not only the wait time for components to be printed, but also reduce the commercial cost of components printed by this system.