INNOVATION | 3D PRINTING
structure in the APF additive manufacturing process, says Martin Neff, head of the plastic freeforming department at Arburg. The faster build speed is possible due to the
Above: Applying support materials in a grid structure allows complex geometries to be achieved with a short build time, says Arburg. This example shows an S-shaped pipe made from white PP with Armat 12 as the support material
mechanical performance. In April,3D Systems announced the SLA 750
stereolithography AM platform, designed to address large format or high volume production applications. It comprises the SLA 750 and SLA 750 Dual, the first synchronous, dual-laser stereolithog- raphy printer, as well as a new material, Accura AMX Durable Natural, and the PostCure 1050 post-processing system. 3D Systems says the solution is optimised for
cost-effective SLA batch part production at up to twice the speed and triple the throughput of other available stereolithography solutions. “Additionally, the entire solution can be seamlessly integrated into the factory floor through the power of the Oqton Manufacturing OS,” it says. It is intended to deliver large, production resin parts and batch part production for industries such as transportation, motorsports, consumer technology, durable goods, manufacturing services, aerospace and healthcare. Arburg is one of the very few injection mould- ing machine makers so far to have branched out into AM, with its Arburg Plastic Freeforming (APF) technology. Arburg has optimised the software for its Freeformer machines so that, in future, all water-soluble Armat support materials (supplied by Arburg as part of its APF package) can be applied in a grid structure that is optimised for APF. This will shorten build times in the APF process by up to 55% – while also reducing material consumption. The water-soluble support material can then be washed out without manual finishing work. At the Rapid + TCT 2022 trade fair in Detroit, in
May, Arburg demonstrated how complex Freeform- er components can be produced around 40 to 55% faster, depending on geometry and application, thanks to a process-optimised grid-type support
38 INJECTION WORLD | June 2022
optimisation of the Freeformer software. For all components with geometries requiring a support structure, the water-soluble materials Armat 11 and Armat 12 are now applied to the moving part carrier in such a way as to create a process-opti- mised grid structure, Arburg says. Rather than a compact build-up, a fill level of only around 20% results in lightweight structures that can also be removed more quickly than before without finishing work in the next step. In this way, the grid structures save time when building up the compo- nent and removing the support material. Arburg says the savings potential can be demonstrated in a particularly impressive manner in the case of the 1:16-scale functional model of a complex toggle-type clamping unit from an Allrounder injection moulding machine. This was first manufactured over the eight-day duration of the K 2016 trade fair using the APF process. Then, the build time for the ABS component including support material was over 200 hours. Thanks to the grid structure, the build time can now be reduced by 54% to 92 hours. The support material, weigh- ing 600g, can be washed out completely in just ten minutes, leaving behind the toggle model with around 30 moving joints. In developing new support materials for the
Freeformer, Arburg collaborates with universities and established material partners. The water-solu- ble support material Armat 11 is the standard choice for many materials such as ABS. Armat 12, which is also water-soluble, is offered by Arburg specifically for PP.
CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: �
www.addifab.com �
www.nexeoplastics.com �
www.lehvoss.de �
www.techmerpm.com �
www.ineos-styrolution.com �
www.basf.com �
www.grafe.com �
https://markforged.com �
www.zerotolerancecnc.com �
www.stratasys.com �
www.covestro.com �
www.evonik.com �
www.asiga.com �
www.3dsystems.com �
www.arburg.com �
www.materialise.com
www.injectionworld.com
IMAGE: ARBURG
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