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A comment on Teenager can walk again thanks to Dutch 3D printed spinal implant. Parent comment

Re:Teenager can walk again thanks to Dutch 3D printed spinal... by anonymfus on Wednesday July 24, 2019 @09:08PM (#20521753)
3D printing metal is usually done by sintering a metal powder. The technology is good enough for turbine blades in aircraft engines.
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Re:Teenager can walk again thanks to Dutch 3D printed spinal... by jcampbell1 on Wednesday July 24, 2019 @10:05PM (#20522000)
Turbine blades in modern aircraft are gamma-TiAl, which is a single crystal. These are not 3d printed and the process for making them is similar but more advanced than making silicon wafers.
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Re:Teenager can walk again thanks to Dutch 3D printed spinal... by madengr on Wednesday July 24, 2019 @10:20PM (#20522065)
This is a decent documentary on Rolls Royce that discusses the single crystal blade. I think each one has 18 tons of centrifugal force, and uses a few micron layer of air to cool it, so running an engine too slow will melt them. Fascinating stuff.

https://youtu.be/1Ufd5nDeEK8

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