INNOVATION | 3D PRINTING


Above:


3D printing enables production tools with elaborate conformal cooling


channels and reduced weight


US based Nexa3D to utilise Addifab’s Freeform Injection Molding (FIM) platform on the Nexas NXE 400 industrial 3D Printer – the NXE 400, which can run at high speeds and also produce large objects. Nexa3D is a leading US manufacturer of high-per- formance 3D printers for industrial applications. Together, say the companies, they will bring Addifab’s novel 3D printed injection mould tooling platform to injection moulders globally (See also Injection World June 2021). “The collaboration enables the 3D printed mould tools that are produced with FIM faster than ever, and in new unimaginable sizes, or great volumes,” says Addifab. “It is, for example, now possible to produce 100+ parts in 2 x 1 cm or one part in 50 x 30cm. Thus, injection moulding companies can now produce everything from tiny parts to large parts at significantly faster speeds than before.” The FIM platform works with the NXE 400 in the same way as it does with the original Addifab industrial 3D printer, called the Toolmaker. Both use liquid resin-based printing technologies (the Toolmaker uses Digital Light Processing (DLP) UV-curing technology, while the NXE 400 uses what Nexa3D calls Lubricant Sublayer Photo-Curing (LSP), which apparently is very similar). There are three stages: print, inject, and dissolve. The (nor- mally single-piece) mould containing a cavity in the shape of the desired injection moulded part is 3D printed in a soluble resin; the mould is mounted on a standard injection moulding machine; the part is moulded; the mould containing the part is removed from the machine and placed for between 12 and 48 hours in a bath containing an alkaline solution that dissolves the mould and frees the part. For larger, less complicated parts, the mould can


be produced in two halves, reducing demoulding time. But in any case, because any mould can be dissolved, the technology enables injection moulding of complex components that would


30 INJECTION WORLD | June 2022


otherwise be difficult, if not impossible, to mould with conventional metal tooling, even tooling with moving or lost cores. The original Addifab 3D printer was developed specifically for injection mould tool making. It provides high precision, tight tolerances, and great design freedom. Maximum resolution is 10µm and tolerances on the injection moulded component are 10-50µm. Freeform Injection Molding tools can be used on any injection moulding machine. They resist injection pressures of up to 2,500 bar and melt temperatures of up to 450° C. They are compatible to varying degrees with all conventional thermo- plastic injection moulding materials (some poly- mers, like polycarbonate, may be attacked by the solvent used to dissolve the mould), in shot sizes from 0.1 g to 100 g. Addifab says Freeform Injection Molding combines the quality, scalability, and versatility of injection moulding with the short lead times and low start-up costs from 3D printing, “resulting in an ideal tool for high-mix, low-volume production where complexity is high, and the need for flexibil- ity is even higher.” It has already been proven in numerous demanding applications, including Covid-19 personal protection equipment, various consumer goods, and spare parts. The collaboration enables Nexa3D to supply the NXE 400 system – including the industrial 3D printer as well as wash and cure units – to users of Freeform Injection Molding, while Addifab will be supplying its proprietary tooling resins and post-processing equipment.


3D printed moulds for injection moulding produced in a few hours on a Nexa3D NXE 400 industrial 3D printer using an Addifab resin. The moulds here are each 54 x 84.5mm. They are used to mould a double- helix demonstrator part, showing how 3D printing enables geometrical freedom. The process can be used to make moulds as large as 154 x 241mm


www.injectionworld.com


IMAGE: MATERIALISE


IMAGE: ADDIFAB


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