According to examples, an apparatus includes a processor and a memory on which is stored machine readable instructions. The instructions may cause the processor to identify an intended surface property level for a surface of a three-dimensional (3D) object, determine an amount of radiation to be applied as a flash of radiation onto the surface to obtain the intended surface property level, and output the determined amount of radiation to be applied as a flash of radiation, in which a radiation source is to flash apply the determined amount of radiation onto the surface of the 3D object.

The present invention enables three-dimensional nanofabrication by isotropic shrinking of patterned hydrogels. A hydrogel is first expanded, the rate of expansion being controlled by the concentration of the crosslinker. The hydrogel is then infused with a reactive group and patterned in three dimensions using a photon beam through a limited-diffraction microscope. Functional particles or materials are then deposited on the pattern. The hydrogel is then shrunk and cleaved from the pattern.

The present disclosure provides methods and systems for printing a three-dimensional (3D) material. In some examples, a method for printing a 3D biological material comprises providing a media chamber comprising a medium comprising (i) a plurality of cells and (ii) one or more polymer precursors. Next, at least one energy beam may be directed to the medium in the media chamber along at least one energy beam path that is patterned into a 3D projection wherein the x, y, and z dimensions may be simultaneously accessed in accordance with computer instructions for printing the 3D biological material in computer memory, to form at least a portion of the 3D biological material comprising (i) at least a subset of the plurality of cells, and (ii) a polymer formed from the one or more polymer precursors.

The present invention relates to a fibre application head for the production of composite material parts, comprising a compaction roller (3), guiding means (4), a retractable flap (6) which can be displaced between an active position in which the said flap is able to come by its distal end (63) against the fibre in order to bring the said fibre in abutment against with the roller, and a retracted position in which said flap is spaced apart from the roller, and a heating system (5) able to emit thermal radiation (51) towards of the nip zone between the roller and the application surface. Said flap is displaceable by actuation means (7) between its active position and its retracted position so that the roller is subjected to the radiation of the heating system over a greater surface area in the retracted position than in the active position of the flap.

In various exemplary embodiments, the present disclosure provides a process for the conversion of certain polymers into diamond and diamond-like materials using laser pulse annealing. The process includes transforming the polymer to carbon, melting the carbon and quenching the carbon melt into to form Q-carbon, diamond, and/or graphene. The process can be applied to a polymer film such as a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) tape. An object can be coated with the polymer film which can then be converted to Q-carbon, diamond, and/or graphene using laser pulse annealing. A process is also provided for making a three-dimensional object using a combination of, for example, 3D printing the polymer and converting each layer of polymer into Q-carbon, diamond and/or graphene.

A three-dimensional shaped object including a fluororesin, wherein the three-dimensional shaped object is a laminate of a layer according to the slice data of the three-dimensional structure. The three-dimensional shaped object has a tensile stress at break of 9 MPa or more, and a tensile elongation at break in the direction perpendicular to the shaped plane of 20% or more. Also disclosed is a method for producing the three-dimensional shaped object.

This invention provides resin formulations which may be used for 3D printing and pyrolyzing to produce a ceramic matrix composite. The resin formulations contain a solid-phase filler, to provide high thermal stability and mechanical strength (e.g., fracture toughness) in the final ceramic material. The invention provides direct, free-form 3D printing of a preceramic polymer loaded with a solid-phase filler, followed by converting the preceramic polymer to a 3D-printed ceramic matrix composite with potentially complex 3D shapes or in the form of large parts. Other variations provide active solid-phase functional additives as solid-phase fillers, to perform or enhance at least one chemical, physical, mechanical, or electrical function within the ceramic structure as it is being formed as well as in the final structure. Solid-phase functional additives actively improve the final ceramic structure through one or more changes actively induced by the additives during pyrolysis or other thermal treatment.

The invention concerns a method for managing captive preforms immobilized in a heating station during an interruption of production, the preforms following a production stream, the heating station including a device for conveying preforms and a heating cavity bordered by at least one row of emitters of monochromatic electromagnetic radiation. The method consists in ejecting from the production stream the cold captive preforms that have been immobilized before they have been exposed to the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the emitters to a recycling stream and rejecting from the production stream the hot captive preforms that have been at least partly exposed to the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the emitters to a reject stream separate from the recycling stream.

A method of altering a refractive property of a crosslinked acrylic polymer material by irradiating the material with a high energy pulsed laser beam to change its refractive index. The method is used to alter the refractive property, and hence the optical power, of an implantable intraocular lens after implantation in the patient's eye. In some examples, the wavelength of the laser beam is in the far red and near IR range and the light is absorbed by the crosslinked acrylic polymer via two-photon absorption at high laser pulse energy. The method also includes designing laser beam scan patterns that compensate for effects of multiphone absorption such as a shift in the depth of the laser pulse absorption location, and compensate for effects caused by high laser pulse energy such as thermal lensing. The method can be used to form a Fresnel lens in the optical zone.

Methods for manufacturing articles of footwear are provided. In various aspects, the methods comprise utilizing additive manufacturing methods with foam particles. In some aspects, the additive manufacturing methods comprise increasing the temperature of a plurality of foam particles with actinic radiation under conditions effective to fuse a portion of the plurality of foam particles comprising one or more thermoplastic elastomers. Increasing the temperature of the foam particles can be carried out for one or multiple iterations. The disclosed methods can be used to manufacturer articles with sub-regions that exhibit differing degrees of fusion between the foam particles, thereby resulting in sub-regions with different properties such as density, resilience, and/or flexural modulus. This abstract is intended as a scanning tool for purposes of searching in the particular art and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure.