Rotating nozzles improve print

One third of the engine of the Cessna Denali plane is 3D printed from different metals. The aviation industry benefits very much from 3D prints, which reduce weight and increase the strength of components. Metal is increasingly replaced by plastic reinforced by carbon fibres. Composite materials are lighter than aluminium and titanium, and their strength can be adjusted as required. Using a rotating nozzle, American scientists have improved composites even more, as the carbon fibres are printed in spiral shapes. Scientists were inspired by mantis shrimps, whose extremely strong front limbs consist of fibres in spiral patterns.