Ceramic corals from 3D printing

The US environmental protection organization Secore has developed a solution to help revive these endangered coral reefs. Specially bred coral larvae are placed on 3D-printed ceramic structures and then released at suitable locations in the sea. The design of the artificial coral elements is based on the latest scientific research findings. A nature-inspired, five-armed shape with protrusions, depressions and cavities has proven to be ideal, which the sensitive coral larvae like to use as a habitat and settle on. However, such organic, detailed shapes are almost impossible to produce conventionally.

Combined additive competencies

In FIT and Autodesk, the Secore project has found two partners whose combined expertise in the areas of design, software and 3D printing ensures the successful technical development and implementation of the so-called tetrapods. This success was made possible by the ceramic powder "Amcelain" developed by FIT, the ceramic 3D printing technology adapted to it and the special additive design of the so-called tetrapods, which were perfectly implemented with the Autodesk software "Selective Space Structures (3S)" both in terms of their intended use and their technical feasibility. The company is working together with Autodesk on the development of further base bodies to facilitate colonization with the picky coral larvae. The latest generation of colonization bodies has a surface area increased by a factor of 3.4, as it contains a large number of small pores and cavities in which the coral larvae find particularly good protection and support.

"To create truly innovative applications, it's not enough to use additive manufacturing technologies, no, radical innovation starts in the mind. With Autodesk 3S, we can make this new way of thinking a reality," says Carl Fruth, founder and CEO of FIT. "Only by radically rethinking our manufacturing processes can we create better products for a better future for us all."

The test phases in the Bahamas and Curaçao have been successful and the tests are now to be expanded. In the future, more than 1 million of these ceramic objects are to be produced and deployed to hopefully counteract coral mortality in the long term.