Aug 2, 2017 | By Benedict

FDM 3D printer specialist German RepRap has joined forces with plastics company ebalta Kunststoff to develop a new polyurethane (PU) formulation for German RepRap’s liquid additive manufacturing (LAM) process. The 3D printing material purportedly has isotropic mechanical properties.

While it can be hard to convince customers of the benefits of a 3D printing material without letting them use it themselves, German materials company ebalta Kunststoff says its recent outing at this year’s PSE Europe (International Exhibition for Polyurethane Solutions) in Munich was a big success in terms of impressing attendees.

At its booth, ebalta used a German RepRap LAM (liquid additive manufacturing) 3D printer to process its new liquid polyurethane 3D printing material. The companies say they were able to produce “amazing results,” with spectators left “duly impressed.”

Of course, those reports won’t be enough to convince you of the benefits of the companies’ new PU 3D printing material, but other information about the material might.

For one, the 3D printing plastic has isotropic mechanical properties due to chemical crosslinking. It can also be processed in a liquid state, eliminating the melting process used on typical FDM 3D printers.

But the real draw of the PU material might be its flexibility. German RepRap and ebalta say the material was developed with the goal of creating a wide range of properties, from soft to hard, that are suitable for “prototype construction or functional models for consumer goods.”

While the mechanical properties of PU-printed objects can be comparable to those of injection molded parts, the 3D printing material can be used to create much more complex parts than injection molding can make.

To do this, however, users will need a liquid 3D printer like German RepRap’s own LAM, which was unveiled at last year’s formnext exhibition in Frankfurt. LAM enables the 3D printing of materials like liquid silicones.

“The new Liquid Additive Manufacturing technology is a revolution in 3D printing and will strongly influence this rethinking [choosing AM over subtractive manufacturing] in a positive sense,” said Florian Bautz, Managing Director of German RepRap, at this year’s RAPID+TCT event. “We can say it is the beginning of a new age, since there has been no comparable technology anywhere in the world.”

With a LAM printer to hand, users will be able to fully reap the rewards of the new PU liquid material, such as its ability to be printed at room temperature.

(Images: Mack Brooks Exhibitions)

Processing at room temperature purportedly allows for a “highly energy-efficient printing process,” as well as low material shrinkage (between 1 and 2 percent). This greatly reduces the chances of thermal warping or print bed detachment.

“Thanks to their excellent mechanical properties, polyurethanes are suitable for special applications, such as those requiring high resistance to wear,” German RepRap says. “This makes them suitable for applications in virtually all industries, especially automotive, aeronautical, and construction.”

Posted in 3D Printing Materials

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