A Dutch company says 3D printing can play a “transformational role” in building boats.
As BBC News reports, the company has spent two years of experimentation to devise a particular mix of thermoplastics and fibreglass that has no need of extra coating to protect it from sunlight, and is resistant to fouling and marine growth.
To test its strength, Maarten Logtenberg, co-founder of CEAD, took a sledgehammer to a sample of the material, which “simply bounced off.. barely leaving a scratch”, BBC News reports.
His company CEAD designs and builds large-format 3D printers at its base in the Dutch town of Delft.
It took just four days for the first hull to roll off the printer, and the company is now printing one every week.
"We're automating almost 90% of the boat-building process, and in superfast time," he says.
"3D printed boats still need to be accepted by the market," Logtenberg told BBC News.
"People are not going to invest and then just hope that the market will develop. They would rather buy in capacity first. [So] instead of just building machines, we're going to do it ourselves,” he said.
Read the BBC News report here
