May 12, 2017 | By Benedict
Chemicals company BASF and materials company Essentium have joined forces to develop new 3D printing polymers for FDM 3D printers. The two parties say their efforts will lead to stronger plastic parts suitable for mass production.
Thanks to an improvement in materials, printers, and software, you can now make 3D printed parts a lot stronger than you could once upon a time. For BASF and Essentium, however, those parts are still not strong enough.
That’s why the two companies—one a world-renowned chemical producer from Germany, the other an up-and-coming, Texas-based materials specialist—have joined forces to develop a special new range of materials for FDM 3D printing.
To be fair to them, the duo seem well matched. In their own words, BASF brings to the partnership “the most comprehensive portfolio of innovative materials in the chemical industry,” with the younger Essentium providing its exciting FlashFuse electric welding technology “which enhances layer to layer adhesion of 3D printed parts.”
By combining their respective areas of expertise, BASF and Essentium are planning to develop a “range of polymer solutions” that will be precisely engineered to combat interlayer weakness in 3D printed parts.
Although BASF has a massive reputation behind it, it is perhaps Essentium who are bringing the more awe-inspiring technology to the table here. The Texas company’s FlashFuse extrusion system performs in-situ welding which can be applied to open-system FDM printer platforms, boosting isotropy and improving the vertical strength and mechanical toughness of the 3D printed parts.
The extruder uses both heat and electricity to increase the temperature of the 3D printing material before and after each layer is deposited. This external impetus serves to strengthen the part while it is being printed, a process which supposedly results in printed parts with 95% the strength of layer-free molded parts.
Unfortunately, FlashFuse won’t work with any old filament, since the material itself needs to be electrically conductive for the technology to work. That’s why Essentium has made its own FlashFuse 3D printing material designed to work with the extruder. It appears that the new materials being developed by BASF and Essentium will also be conductive, so they can work with FlashFuse.
At present, the BASF and Essentium are limiting their joint efforts to FDM/FFF, “because of its ability to use a wide range of thermoplastics, fabricate large, complex parts rapidly and efficiently, and easily combine multi-modality materials in the same print.” The companies add that FDM filaments can be loaded with “functional fillers.”
It is not yet clear whether this collaboration could lead to further efforts in other forms of additive manufacturing.
“BASF is committed to advancing 3D printing to the next level across all major additive manufacturing technologies,” commented Kara Noack, Head of BASF’s 3D printing business in North America. “I am confident that our collaboration with Essentium will enable the creation of 3D printed functional parts and make the technology accessible to a broader range of industrial customers.”
“Essentium Materials’ distinctive FlashFuse technology addresses one of the prevalent challenges for achieving isotropic 3D printed parts,” added Dr. Blake Teipel, Essentium’s President and CTO. “Our partnership with BASF will provide robust and strong 3D printing solutions for extremely demanding applications.”
Essentium was demonstrating FuseBox, a 3D printer add-on that utilizes FlashFuse technology, at RAPID + TCT this week.
Posted in 3D Printing Materials
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