30Nov/12Off
Custom 3D-Printed Beams Can Be 10,000 Times Stronger Than Steel
If you start 3D-printing custom beams for the exact purpose they're intended to serve though, you've got a regular space-age material on your hands. It's lighter than steel and orders of magnitude stronger.
With each iteration of ever-smaller fractal innards, the beam can gain strength by the order of magnitude, with practically negligible weight gain. Third generation beams, about as far as we can hope to go with current tech, are 10,000 times stronger than steel.
See the full story here: http://gizmodo.com/5964609/custom-3d+printed-beams-can-be-10000-times-stronger-than-steel