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On a Saturday morning earlier this September, the world got its first look at the Strati. This electric vehicle is unlike any other currently on the road. It rolls on four wheels, but its body and chassis(底盘) weren't built in a factory. Instead, Strati's designers used a technology called 3-D printing. It created those parts of the car in one piece, from the ground up.
“Compared to a typical vehicle on the road, the Strati definitely looks different,” says Greg Schroeder, a senior research engineer at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. He did not work on the new car. His organization studies trends and changes in th e auto industry.
It took 44 hours to print the new car at the International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago. Over the next few days, the car's designers installed additional parts. These included the car's engine, brakes and tires. Then, early on September 13, Jay Rogers climbed into the car, started its engine and drove the vehicle onto the street. Rogers helped found Local Motors. It's the Arizona-based company behind the Strati. Two weeks later, his team printed a second Strati, and just as fast, at a fair in New York City.
Justin Fishkin, a local Motors official, sees the Strati as a window into the future. Today, car buyers are limited in their choice of a vehicle. They can order only what car companies have already designed. But in the future, he says, you may be able to design your own car online and then get it printed to order.
Manufacturing experts say 3-D printing has begun to revolutionize how they make things. The technology has been around for decades. But these machines used to be so expensive that only large companies could afford them. In the last few years, though, that has changed. Many of the machines are now inexpensive enough for small companies—or even individuals —to own. Some local libraries make them available to the public. High Schools are beginning to use them in classrooms. Wide access to these printers means people can now design and print a wide variety of new things.
The car's printer is a one-of-a-kind device.
The technology behind the 3-D printer used in Chicago is an example of additive manufacturing. This proce ss builds solid objects, slice by slice, from the bottom up. (“Strati” means layers, in Italian.) A mechanical arm moves a nozzle from one side to another, back and forth. As it moves, the nozzle deposits a liquid—often melted plastic or metal (but it could be food, concrete or even cells) —that quickly hardens or bonds to become solid or semi-solid. This creates a single, thin layer. Once a layer is complete, the printer starts depositing the next one.
“There's a lot of interest in 3-D printing in the auto industry,” says Schroeder. Right now, the technology is particularly useful for building models of cars or car parts.
To compete with current auto manufacturers, the 3-D printer would have to increase in a hurry, Schroeder says. By contrast, he notes, a Ford F-150 pickup truck rolls off an assembly line at a rate of roughly one per minute. To print as many Stratis would require many more printers. Schroeder says he doesn't see 3-D printing soon taking over for such high-volume manufacturing. But, he adds, “Who knows what will h appen in the long term?”
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee designed the 3-D printer used in Chicago. Lonnie Love, a research scientist at the lab, led the effort.
Additive manufacturing often is slow and expensive. It also may produce materials that are unreliable, Love says. So for two years, his team searched for ways to make 3-D printing better. They built new machines and tested them over and over.
All of that work paid off: their new machine is fast and uses less expensive material than earlier printers. In addition, it prints a plastic embedded with fibers of carbon to produce a stronger material. This helps ensure the material won't crack or break under pressure.
I'm the mother of a fourteen-year-old. I have a rule for my daughter: be among the top 5 students or get punished in one way or another. She has been doing very well in school, but some friends of mine keep telling me that I put too much pressure on her. Am I wrong?
写作要点: 1.表明自己的看法;2.陈述自己的理由(可举例说明);3.提出至少两条建议
要求:1.短文须写在答题卡的指定区域。 2.短文词数不少于100(不含已写好的部分)。3.内容充实,结构完整,语意连贯。 4.书写需清晰、工整。
Hi, TigerMom,
What puzzles you is actually a puzzle for many parents in China. My idea is……
New Zealand the rest of the land on Earth for 80 million years.
(1)某元素原子的核电荷数是电子层数的5倍,其质子数是最外层电子数的3倍,该元素的原子结构示意图是 .
(2)已知某粒子的结构示意图为:
试回答:
①当x﹣y=10时,该粒子为 (填“原子”、“阳离子”或“阴离子”).
②当y=8时,粒子可能为(填名称) 、
③写出y=3与y=7的元素最高价氧化物对应水化物发生反应的离子方程式
Summer is coming. The weather becomes hotter and hotter. A lot of people like swimming in the swimming pools or in the sea. They think water makes them (feel)cool. But some people are not careful enough. They often think they can swim (good) than others and they don't have to worry about anything. So these years, many accidents happened and some people (lose) their lives. Most of them were students. As we all know, (safe) is the most important. Do you know to protect yourself?(protect)yourself, you must be careful. Remember not to swim in a (danger) place. Don't swim alone, and you see a "No Swimming" sign, don't swim, either. Of course, you can swim someone who can keep you safe. If you remember these, swimming(be)safer.