Dec 6, 2016 | By Benedict
Additive Elements, a German specialist in binder jetting 3D printing, has unveiled a new material system suitable for the ‘extremely economical production of functional plastic parts.’ The acrylic-based AE12 system was developed for Voxeljet 3D printers, but can also be used on others.
Functional plastic parts 3D printed with AE12
Although formnext 2016 allowed 3D printing companies from all across the globe to showcase their wares and services, the massive 3D printing event perhaps benefited German additive specialists the most. Making the short journey from Munich to Frankfurt in the middle of November was Additive Elements, Bavaria’s premier binder jetting 3D printing expert, who used the (fairly) local trade show to present a new material system for binder jetting additive technology.
The new 3D printing material system, named AE12, is an attempt to solve one of binder jetting’s more limiting features. At present, the additive manufacturing method allows users build porous parts in gypsum or molding forms in sand, before post-processing with epoxy or simply destroying the part after casting. With AE12, 3D printer users will now be able to use binder jetting technology for an entirely new purpose: affordable 3D printing of functional plastic parts.
“It will finally be possible to use the Binder Jetting technology for direct additive manufacturing of high quality parts,” said Additive Elements development manager Johannes Günther, whose team worked hard to alter the physical structure of the 3D printing material to suit the purpose of the printed parts: “The biggest challenge was to reduce the porosity of the built parts to a minimum,” he added.
More functional plastic parts 3D printed with AE12
The Additive Elements AE12 3D printing material system is based on Poly(methyl methacrylate), also known as PMMA or acrylic. To make the material as dense as possible—reducing the porosity that can make parts brittle and unsuitable for important applications—the binder is mixed with additives that polymerize (effectively “closing” the part) after the building process.
According to Additive Elements, there are further advantages to AE12 besides its ability to create dense 3D printed objects. One interesting feature, for example, is that all unprinted powder can be rescued and reused following a print job, helping users of binder jetting 3D printing systems to massively reduce waste, minimizing the cost of 3D printing in the process. The material is also scalable, and can be used in large 3D printers to produce large 3D printed objects up to a few meters in size.
Although Additive Elements is not expecting parts 3D printed with its new AE12 3D printing material system to be used in extreme mechanical use cases, it certainly believes that its less porous material system represents a massive step up in the end-use functionality of parts made using binder jetting technology.
The AE12 binder jetting 3D printing material can be used with Voxeljet 3D printers
“We want our process to let additive manufacturing take the next step in direction of serial production,” said Additive Elements founder Thilo Kramer. “Plastic parts will be producible at a fraction of costs of the established 3D printing technologies. For a lot of industries, this is the major criteria for adapting additive manufacturing.”
While the AE12 material system was developed for Voxeljet 3D printers, the 3D printing material will also be usable on other 3D printers. Beta customers will be testing the material until mid-2017, by which time it will have been parametrized for use on a range of larger machines and diverse binder jetting systems. The material will be available for public purchase once beta testing is complete.
Posted in 3D Printing Materials
Maybe you also like:
- T-Bone Cape motion control board launches on Indiegogo
- New extruder could lower costs of 3D printing cellular structures for drug testing
- New Ninja Printer Plate for consumer 3D printing
- mUVe3D releases improved Marlin firmware for all 3D printers
- Zecotek plans HD 3D display for 3D printers
- Add a smart LCD controller to your Robo3D printer
- Maker Kase: a handy cabinet for 3D printers
- Heated bed for ABS printing with the Printrbot Simple XL
- Next gen all metal 3D printer extruder from Micron
- Pico all-metal hotend 100% funded in 48 hours, B3 announces Stretch Goal
- Create it REAL announces first 3D printing Real Time Processor
- A larger and more powerful 3D printer extruder on Kickstarter
The use of my design for commercial purposes is illegal and a copyright violation - https://www.3dizingof.com/3D-Printing/shop/for-home-3d-printers/cellular-cocoon-vase-by-dizingof/ For PR license contact us immediately. Dizingof 3Dizingof.com
3Ders.org provides the latest news about 3D printing technology and 3D printers. We are now seven years old and have around 1.5 million unique visitors per month.
