3D PRINTING | INNOVATION


DSM recently announced a partnership with 3Dmouthguard to develop custom-made 3D-printed (FFF) Arnitel TPE mouthguards for sports. “By scanning the upper jaw with video technology and digitally capturing all curves and shapes of mouth and teeth, a perfectly fitted mouthguard can be printed on the spot using fused filament technology,” says DSM, adding that the bio-based TPE meets all strength, flexibility and health requirements. “3D printed mouthguard machines could soon be a must-have in every sports facility around the world,” says Arno Hermans, CEO of 3Dmouthguard, which is also looking to expand into other personal- ised protective sports items. Photos show a mouthguard being printed


Alexander Cochrane, Marketing Manager


3D-Printing Powder Bed Fusion, says manufactured components are very stiff and strong. “We expect to be able to supply our first customers with our powder material in late summer,” he says. BASF 3D Printing Solutions is also working on various new developments in the field of UV-reac- tive materials. Photo-Resin X004M, which recently became available, has been specially optimised for stereolithography (SLA), digital light processing (DLP) and LCD printers. The supplier says the new material has high tensile strength and high elasticity modulus. “We also plan to bring our latest material developments in the area of photopolymers to the market in the near future, to meet industry custom- ers’ requirements for flexible and above all high strength photopolymer components,” says András Marton, Marketing & Sales Manager Photopolymers. DSM is also taking a multi-pronged approach to


3DP. Last November, it aligned all activities within a new integrated business, DSM Additive Manufac- turing. The company has been a major player in SLA for over two decades, with its Somos materials. The new business will also offer FFF materials as well as experience from years of research in other processes. It will initially focus on four market segments in particular: healthcare, transportation, sport and lifestyle, and tools and electronics. Hugo da Silva, VP of Additive Manufacturing


(AM) at DSM, says: “Right now, there is a lot of excitement around FFF and DSM has a growing portfolio of materials for this technology, including Novamid polyamide and Arnitel thermoplastic elastomer. But we intend to go much further [with] new solutions for SLS, Multi Jet Fusion, Ink Jet and


www.injectionworld.com


Binder Jet. We also want to explore new and emerging technologies in AM as they graduate from research.” Latest FFF introductions include Arnitel ID


2060-HT thermoplastic polyester elastomer, which DSM says is the first material for FFF that can be used for applications that require long-term high temperature conditions such as auto air/fuel management systems.


Also new is Novamid ID1030-CF10, a copolymer


of PA 6 and PA 66 containing 10% carbon fibre. DSM says it was created to answer unmet demands from the 3D printing community for a high-perfor- mance material with very good strength and stiffness. “This material can create parts with properties much closer to what is normally only achievable by injection moulding with carbon fibre- reinforced compounds,” says Scott Nordlund, Sales Director, Additive Manufacturing North America. “The carbon fibre loading, at 10%, is lower than in many IM compounds, but we have tuned the formulation to work within the boundaries of what is processable on 3D printers. Users will be able to run their printers at the same speeds as with unreinforced plastics, but they will get considerably better strength. Toughness is also very good.” There is still quite a long way to go before additive manufacturing succeeds on a large scale in production of finished parts, cautions Patrick Duis, Segment Leader Transportation. Printing technolo- gies are getting faster and machines are getting bigger, he notes, but they still need to better demonstrate their long-term reliability and repeat- ability. That said, the last three or four years have seen major improvements in the quality of parts that can be made on FFF printers, he points out.


� June 2018 | INJECTION WORLD 21


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