Page 10 - Summer 2025

Multiphoton 3D Lithography produces minute
Earthquake Simulation Stress Tests 3D-printed
Concrete House
Scientists at the University of Bristol have deployed
the UK’s largest shaking table to simulate the
effects of a medium-magnitude earthquake on a
3D-printed concrete house.
Traditional concrete structures have well-established
seismic resilience, but 3D-printed concrete structures
introduce new variables such as layered deposition,
unique material properties and unique geometries.
Testing used a high-end shaking table capable
of holding up to 50 tonnes and of simulating the
ground motions representative of a real earthquake.
The house was created using a robotic additive
manufacturing process with controlled material
deposition and geometry, and incorporated
accelerometers, displacement sensors and various
gauges designed to capture a comprehensive set of
dynamic response data.
In the test the unit was subjected to increasing
intensity ground motion with each test sequence
allowing for real-time assessment of cracking,
displacement and potential failure points. The
resultant data then enabled evaluation of the
structured resilience of the 3D-printed unit, allowing
for comparison of its performance relative to
traditional construction methods and validation of
computational models that are used as predictors of
seismic behaviour.
Project Lead Dr. Raffaele De Risi states:
“Insights from this study will help identify design
parameters that optimise seismic performance,
such as layer bonding strategies and
reinforcement integration.
Ultimately we hope to validate whether 3D-printed
concrete can meet current safety standards for
seismic applications and provide a foundation for
developing building codes that include additive
manufacturing technologies.
By testing the seismic resilience of 3D-printed
concrete for the first time, we’re not just exploring
the future of construction, we’re helping shape
a safer, smarter and more adaptive built
environment”.
Reference: West, P., Electronic Specifier, 18th. June Reference: Miles, S., ‘Vilnius University’s Gift to Sorbonne University
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First Testing Facility for testing Materials replicated anywhere in the world at the moment,
Replica of Sorbonne University Chapel
An advanced laser nanofabrication technique
known as multiphoton 3D lithography has been
used to produce a minute replica of Sorbonne
University Chapel.
The replica, the length of which is approximately 120
micrometres, and which is around 275,000 times
smaller than the real chapel, was produced by
Dr. Gordon Zyla, a senior researcher at the Vilnius
University Faculty of Physics. With all of the intricate
architectural details of the original preserved, it was
gifted to the President of Sorbonne University, Professor
Nathalie Drach-Temam during a high-level delegation
visit.
Dr. Zyla explains how this advanced form of
3D-printing operates:
“Unlike conventional 3D-printing, this approach
can solidify a light-sensitive material at virtually
any point in space, enabling the fabrication of
truly three-dimensional structures. Interestingly,
by using a sharply-focused ultrashort-pulse laser
beam, it is possible to initiate a polymerisation
reaction with such precision that it creates spatial
elements, or voxels, just a few hundred nanometres
in size. For comparison, a human hair is about 80
micrometres thick, roughly 500 times wider than
the structures created by this method.
Simple spherical microelements - six times smaller
than the chapel - can improve the resolution
of optical microscopes beyond what standard
lenses can achieve. Other tiny structures, carefully
arranged in patterns, can shape and control
light in new ways to enable novel interactions
with matter. This may open up possibilities for
future applications in bio-imaging, quantum
technologies, telecommunications and laser
technologies”.
President’, Electronic Specifier, 1st. July
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3D-printed in Space will help regulatory authorities to make safety
standards for in-space manufacturing informed by
The world’s first dedicated facility for testing the
real-world testing”.
structural integrity of materials that are 3D-printed
in space has been constructed at the University of Reference: ‘First-of-its-kind Test Facility could help Space Industry
Glasgow’s James Watt School of Engineering. dodge a Bullet’, Instrumentation Monthly, May 2025, p.5
The NextSpace Testrig uses a specially constructed
vacuum chamber that can generate temperatures
from -150 to +250 degrees Centigrade, recreating
space-like conditions on Earth, and features an
automatic magazine system that can autonomously
test multiple samples in a single cycle, making it
significantly more efficient than traditional testing
methods. The system can apply up to 20kN of force
(equivalent to 2000 kg) to break samples and analyse
their properties under vacuum conditions similar
to those in space, and subject samples to cycles of
extreme temperature.
Prototype 3D-printers have already been sent into
orbit and metal parts have been 3D-printed on board
the International Space Station, but so far no research
facility has ever been dedicated to ensuring that
polymers, ceramics and metals that are printed in
space will be able to withstand the physical strains
that they will face.
Imperfections such as tiny bubbles or poorly melted
sections that may be inconsequential on Earth could
have serious effects in space, such as shattering,
scattering hazardous fragments.
Dr. Gilles Bailet, who developed the NextSpace Testrig
in partnership with The Manufacturing Technology
Centre, states:
“ 3D-printing is a very promising technology for
allowing us to build very complex structures directly
in orbit instead of taking them into space on
rockets. It could enable us to create a wide variety
of devices, from lightweight communications
antennas to solar reflectors to structural parts of
spacecraft or even human habitats for missions to
the Moon and beyond.
However, the potential also comes with significant
risk, which may be magnified if efforts to start
3D-printing in space are rushed out instead of
being properly tested. Objects move very fast in
orbit, and if a piece of a poorly made structure
breaks off it will end up circling the Earth with a
velocity of a rifle bullet. If it hits another object like a
satellite or spacecraft, it could cause catastrophic
damage, as well as increase the potential of
cascading problems as debris from any collisions
cause further damage to other objects.
The NextSpace Testrig is open to academic
colleagues, researchers and commercial clients
from around the world to help them ensure that
any materials they plan to 3D-print in space will
work safely. We also expect that the data we’ll be
gathering in the years to come, which can’t be
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