Manufacturing

New US President Joe Biden has committed to replace the entire 650,000-strong federal fleet with American-made electric vehicles, kicking off what could be a seismic transformation in the US automotive industry. But will it even be possible?

Researchers at Brown University have developed a new way to make super-hard metals, up to four times harder than usual. The team made nanoparticle “building blocks” that could be fused together under pressure, thanks to a chemical treatment.

Perovskite solar cells are rapidly catching up to silicon in efficiency, but continue to lag behind in production speed. Now Stanford has developed a new method of making perovskite solar cells at up to 40 ft per minute – even faster than silicon.

Engineers at Cornell University have developed a new technique for 3D printing metallic objects – and it involves blasting titanium particles at supersonic speeds. The resulting metals are very porous, making them useful for biomedical implants.

Plans are afoot to build a monster battery cell production facility in the UK, but it's not going to another Tesla Gigafactory. Startup Britishvolt expects construction of its 30-GWh GigaPlant to start in Wales next year.

Half the weight of aluminum alloy parts, but the same price. Revolutionary claims for a new composite pressing process under development at Williams Advanced Engineering that could shake up the whole automotive industry, not to mention aviation.

Strong as it is, concrete doesn’t stand up well against bending. Now, researchers at Swinburne University have developed a new type of concrete that can not only bend better, but doesn’t require cement to make, reducing its environmental footprint.

A materials science and engineering team from Korea's Yonsei University has developed a 3D printing technique enabling OLED screens to be printed into transparent structures of any shape, meaning nearly anything can become a see-through color display.

While it's now common to see 3D-printed prototypes, the use of 3D printers for manufacturing is still limited. That could be about to change, thanks to a new model that's being heralded as "the largest and highest throughput printer in its class."

Graphene is incredibly thin, flexible, strong and electrically conductive, but it’s tricky to manufacture on large scales. Now researchers at the University of Rochester have recruited bacteria to make the stuff, which is cheaper and faster than current methods and doesn’t require harsh chemicals.

Noting that complex, proprietary systems can hinder productivity and profitability, BMW and Microsoft have announced the Open Manufacturing Platform. The idea is to set up an open technology framework and cross-industry community to accelerate automotive and manufacturing sector developments.

Traditionally, welding has been limited to materials that share similar properties. But now, scientists are claiming a breakthrough method that can weld together materials as different as glass and metal, thanks to ultrafast laser pulses.