.MGX by Materialise collection
The Belgian company Materialise, renowned for their innovation in the field of Additive Layered Fabrication (ALF), continues to explore through its new and highly inventive design label, .MGX by Materialise, new possibilities in 3D printing techniques, including the advanced technologies of stereolithography, selective laser sintering, and fused deposition modelling. Moss presents their most celebrated new ‘icons’ of ALF, an all digital technique, whereby material is transformed from one state to another (liquid to solid or welding of material particles by laser beam). Included are works by Luc Merx, Patrick Jouin, Hani Rashid, Bathsheba Grossman, Jiri Evenhuis, Strand & Hvass, Lars Spuybroek, Assa Ashuach, Peter Jansen, Platform Studio and Matthias Bär, Arik Levy, Amanda Levete, and Dan Yeffet.
In 2009 Moss launched a major exhibition of the collection in a show entitled "123" Moss, New York VIDEO
There are a number of processes by which .MGX pieces are made.
Additive Layered Fabrication (ALF) is a one-step method of manufacturing a three dimensional object. Instead of producing several components and attaching them to one another, making moulds, or working a material to create the desired shape, with Additive Layered Fabrication, the object is built from the bottom up without any additional tooling. In this method of manufacturing, a material (normally a liquid or powder) is hardened layer by layer with a laser mounted on a two-axis motorized control. The information of precisely where the material is to be hardened is fed to the laser and motors by a computer running Materialise’s software program, ‘Magics’. This program takes a CAD file – a three-dimensional drawing made on a computer of the final product – and digitally “slices” the drawing into thin layers which can be transmitted to the fabrication machine. Each slice is “drawn” by the laser on top of the previous layer until the object is complete. With Additive Layered Fabrication, complex structures can be created which would otherwise be impossible to manufacture.
Two different methods of Additive Layered Fabrication were used to fabricate the objects in this exhibition:
Stereolithography
A thin layer of liquid plastic is spread over a platform in a large tank. A laser beam is then directed into the liquid, (guided by the CAD design file and the Magics software), solidifying the areas it comes in contact with. As each layer is completed, the platform holding the newly solidified layer shifts down a calculated thickness, and the process begins again: a new layer of liquid is spread, a laser beam hardens specific points in the liquid, and the platform and completed layers of the object move down yet again. In this way, layer by layer, an object is “drawn” in the liquid by the beam, with each new layer being hardened onto the previous layer. Once the object is fully built, it is raised out of the tank by the supporting platform – much like a submarine rising to the surface of the water – and the excess liquid flows away.
Selective Laser Sintering
Selective Laser Sintering is similar to Stereolithography, except a powder is used instead of a liquid polymer. The rest of the process remains the same: a thin layer of powder is spread over a platform, a laser beam directed by the software hardens the powder, the layer is lowered one thickness, a new layer of powder is spread, and the laser traces the new layer on top of the previous. Once the object is complete and all layers have been “printed”, the platform raises the object, and a technician brushes and blows away the excess powder.
In 2009 Moss launched a major exhibition of the collection in a show entitled "123" Moss, New York VIDEO
There are a number of processes by which .MGX pieces are made.
Additive Layered Fabrication (ALF) is a one-step method of manufacturing a three dimensional object. Instead of producing several components and attaching them to one another, making moulds, or working a material to create the desired shape, with Additive Layered Fabrication, the object is built from the bottom up without any additional tooling. In this method of manufacturing, a material (normally a liquid or powder) is hardened layer by layer with a laser mounted on a two-axis motorized control. The information of precisely where the material is to be hardened is fed to the laser and motors by a computer running Materialise’s software program, ‘Magics’. This program takes a CAD file – a three-dimensional drawing made on a computer of the final product – and digitally “slices” the drawing into thin layers which can be transmitted to the fabrication machine. Each slice is “drawn” by the laser on top of the previous layer until the object is complete. With Additive Layered Fabrication, complex structures can be created which would otherwise be impossible to manufacture.
Two different methods of Additive Layered Fabrication were used to fabricate the objects in this exhibition:
Stereolithography
A thin layer of liquid plastic is spread over a platform in a large tank. A laser beam is then directed into the liquid, (guided by the CAD design file and the Magics software), solidifying the areas it comes in contact with. As each layer is completed, the platform holding the newly solidified layer shifts down a calculated thickness, and the process begins again: a new layer of liquid is spread, a laser beam hardens specific points in the liquid, and the platform and completed layers of the object move down yet again. In this way, layer by layer, an object is “drawn” in the liquid by the beam, with each new layer being hardened onto the previous layer. Once the object is fully built, it is raised out of the tank by the supporting platform – much like a submarine rising to the surface of the water – and the excess liquid flows away.
Selective Laser Sintering
Selective Laser Sintering is similar to Stereolithography, except a powder is used instead of a liquid polymer. The rest of the process remains the same: a thin layer of powder is spread over a platform, a laser beam directed by the software hardens the powder, the layer is lowered one thickness, a new layer of powder is spread, and the laser traces the new layer on top of the previous. Once the object is complete and all layers have been “printed”, the platform raises the object, and a technician brushes and blows away the excess powder.
