Solid prototyping

The Centre is also provided with a 3D printer that allows to create solid models in different dimensional scale starting from the 3D data acquired.
The rapid prototyping, Z406 ZCorporation, is a 3D printer using injected plaster powder. This prototype technique is based on the 3D printer technology patented by the M. I. T. The software linked with the 3D printer imports 3D digital models in VRML or STL file extension and convert them in layers with thickness from 0.075 mm up to 0.25 mm; this procedure, called slicing, determine the precision of the prototype. The layers are printed from the base to the top in order to obtain the complete solid model. By using this 3D printing methodology it is possible to build solid models with a standard of precision exactly similar to the acquired data one. After being completely dried up, the plaster solid model are injected with an acrylic resin. The material which the solid models are made of, allowed to start experimentations concerning the colouring of the surfaces according to restoration theories and techniques. In particular this 3D printing methodology, when
referred to stone materials, allows surface treatments like the definition of chromatic nuances by using the same techniques
used for the restoration of the actual stone surfaces. The high precision in the reproduction of the solid model and the accuracy of the surface treatment allow to obtain models which turned out to be very similar to the original ones.
Some experimentations have been carried out in Pompeii (the Forum, graffiti, decorative and technological details), in
Benevento (concerning the Arch of Traiano) and in Ferrara, in particular concerning the marble bas-relieves of the Camerino
dei Marmi di Alfonso I d’Este, that are kept at the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.