New 3D printing tech fuses hard and soft structures in a single print — novel resin can create both with different light sources

3D printer
(Image credit: The University of Texas at Austin)

There are tons of filament and resin options available for 3D printing today, but we've never come across one like this. Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a new 3D printing technique (spotted by New Atlas) that makes it possible to print both hard and flexible materials at the same time using just one resin.

This process not only lets you manufacture two different hardnesses of 3D printed materials, but also print the two together. This means the hard and soft materials are printed as one and don't have to be fused together separately after printing. The process uses a custom UV printer that's built to deliver different wavelengths to create the variations in rigidity.

Ash Hill
Contributing Writer

Ash Hill is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware with a wealth of experience in the hobby electronics, 3D printing and PCs. She manages the Pi projects of the month and much of our daily Raspberry Pi reporting while also finding the best coupons and deals on all tech.