The development of the gel suspension 3D printing technique has opened a new design freedom for additive manufacturing. Gel suspension printing involves extruding material, such as metal, concrete, or resin, into a volume of gel which acts as the extrusion’s support material. This technique offers several advantages over traditional 3D printing methods. It allows for the creation of structures with a higher degree of detail and complexity, as the suspended material can be printed with greater accuracy than can be achieved with traditional extrusion-based methods. Also, the technology offers the potential to create structures with intricate details and customisable structural properties that are impossible with traditional FDM printing.

Gel suspension 3D printing techniques enable the formation of highly ornate and high-performance structures that would be impossible with existing additive manufacturing methods. 

This research has been initiated in collaboration with Amaury Thomas who has considerable expertise in printing concrete structures in gel suspension.