这天然生物多样性中心，位于荷兰的国家生物多样性研究所已使用3D打印和3D扫描来帮助重建三角形骨骼。使用建筑商极限1500PRO3D打印机Builder 3D Printers，Naturalis能够使用其他三角形的扫描来代替新展览中缺失的骨头。
这triceratops, named Dirk, is now on display in the dinosaur gallery of Naturalis’ new museum in Leiden, which has been under construction for two years. Also on display at the LiveScience gallery is the Builder Extreme 3D printer that Naturalis used to reconstruct Dirk.
“Modern day palaeontologists use 3D imaging and printing techniques as an instrument to reconstruct fossil remains that are discovered in scientific excavations,” explains Dr. Peter H. Schalk, Director of Public and Markets at Naturalis.
“An industrial Builder Extreme 3D printer is deployed in the LiveScience gallery of the new Naturalis museum as an ongoing demonstration to the public how missing parts are printed and fitted in dinosaur skeletons.”
建筑商3D打印满足天然的大规模需求
Naturalis is home to a vast natural history collection, spanning over 42 million different objects. As well as Dirk, the collection also includes a 66 million year old T. rex skeleton which was discovered in 2013 in Montana, and various other dinosaur specimens. The skeleton of Dirk was dug up near Newcastle, Wyoming, and is estimated to be around 67 million years old.
Paleontologists working on Drik’s skeleton identified a number of missing bones, including some ribs, one of the horns and a large part of the skull. As Naturalis wanted to display the triceratops skeleton in its new museum, they decided to reconstruct these missing parts.
中心一直在使用3 d打印在过去two years, producing only small parts on desktop sized systems.“This works perfectly fine if you only need 3D prints of a handful of smaller bones, and for a single larger bone, combining a couple of smaller prints isn’t too much of a hassle,” comments palaeontology prof. Anne Schulp, researcher at Naturalis.
然而，德克代表了一个更大的项目，其替换骨头长在50至130厘米之间。因此，Naturalis投资了建筑商极限1500PRO，一个大型FFF 3D打印机，配备1100 x 500 x 820毫米大小的打印床。Schulp补充说：“对于一个非常大的项目，例如Triceratops Dirk，我们必须进一步探讨，这就是建筑商Extreme的焦点。”
An upgrade to the standard建筑商极限1500released in 2016, the PRO model features a print speed of up to 120 mm/s, and a layer height resolution of 0.1 to 0.9 mm. The system comes supplied with Simplify3D software and optimized FFF profiles for 0.4, 0.8 and 1.2 mm nozzles. Builder has also equipped the 3D printer with inbuilt transportation wheels, in order to improve its maneuverability in the workspace, and an air filter fromBOFA。
3D打印三角龙恐龙的备件
为了使科学家开始打印Dirk缺失部分的3D打印，他们需要扫描其他三角形，以准确地表示他们必须构造的东西。Schulp解释说：“例如，如果我们缺少左骨和右侧的对手，我们可以轻松进行扫描和镜像的3D打印。”然而，一些重建的骨元素，尤其是椎骨，是由位于该骨架的三角齿骨架扫描来的Children’s Museumin Indianapolis, whose bones were considered complementary to Dirk’s. Naturalis also opted to scan and 3D print bones that were present but too fragile to be displayed like, for example, some of the ribs of Dirk which were not sufficiently preserved for mounting.
在过去的两个月中，建筑商的极限一直是3D打印失踪的骨骼，产生了一百个不同的部分。对于天然而言，重要的是要捕获3D印刷部分中骨骼的每个可见细节。因此，将重点放在了3D打印的质量上，并利用了更复杂的形状的支撑结构。3D打印和后处理后，手工绘制了骨头。由于3D打印的骨骼与实际骨头之间的相似之处，替换零件的颜色略微较浅，使访客可以辨别真实和人造零件。
Completed in time for the museum launch in August, Dirk’s restoration has already prompted Naturalis to book the Builder Extreme 1500 PRO for an additional major project. The system is on display at the museum in order to inform the public how palaeontologists restore missing parts of dinosaur skeletons using 3D printing.
For more information on how Builder helped Naturalis resurrect the triceratops skeleton,click here。
Subscribe to the3D打印行业通讯有关增材制造中的最新消息。您也可以通过关注我们来保持联系Twitter并喜欢我们Facebook。
寻找添加剂制造业的职业？访问3D Printing Jobsfor a selection of roles in the industry.
Featured image shows the skeleton of Dirk the Triceratops on Display at Naturalis, featuring 3D printed bones. Photo via Naturalis.
