CLIP Technology: Sculpteo Gives a Heads Up on Four New Versatile Resins

There’s been so much excitement surrounding Carbon and their super high speed Continuous Liquid Interface Production technology. Bit by bit, details have been given regarding new partners, beta testing, and more—and especially recently with the much awaited release of the Carbon M1 commercial 3D printer, leveraging that famous CLIP technology as well as a long list of new engineering-grade materials, and announcement that Carbon’s Dr. Joseph DeSimone will be presenting the opening keynote at next week’s Inside 3D Printing NYC. Just before that, we also discovered that Sculpteo, along with three other partners, was chosen as the only online 3D print service to own a Carbon 3D printer in its San Leandro facility in California.

Now, we’re all very interested to hear the latest as Sculpteo fills us in, along with information on the new materials that Carbon announced recently. With CLIP technology being famous for using light and oxygen to cure a photosensitive resin as well as creating the dead zone that offers a thin layer of uncured resin between the window and the object, what is most stunning is the fact that this new technology also removes layering from the equation—thus accelerating speed exponentially.

“Designing for CLIP is like designing for many other 3D printing processes, however there are unique challenges, such as support generation and part orientation to make sure that we are providing the best possible quality when processing your parts,” states the Sculpteo team in their recent blog.

While they will not be providing design guidelines for items like size limitations, text, wall thickness, hollowing, and support considerations until CLIP goes live, they are currently interested in sharing the four materials they are recommending, all in the new list of resins developed for the technology. Their hope is that the following information will help you with specific requirements for projects.

EPU –Elastomeric Polyurethane is a rubbery stretchable material, offering elasticity despite a wide fluctuation of temperatures. It is known as a high performance polymeric elastomer, exhibiting elastic behavior under cyclic tensile and compressive loads. You should find it a good choice if you are fabricating gaskets, grommets, and items like flexible watertight seals. EPU is highly flexible and resilient, and also  good for cushioning. It is available in Heather Grey only.

• Ultimate tensile strength  5 – 7 MPa
• Elongation at break  250 – 300%
• Young’s modulus  6 – 8 MPa
• Tear strength  15 – 20 kN/m

FPU – Flexible Polyurethane is a semi-rigid material offering good impact, abrasion, and fatigue resistance. This versatile material was designed to withstand repetitive stress such as hinging mechanisms and friction fits. Sculpteo recommends it as good for materials like injection-molded polypropylene, and see it as a good choice for 3D printing housewares, toys, rigid packaging and anything requiring lighter weight and flexibility. It’s tough and abrasion resistant, and available in Periwinkle only.

• Ultimate tensile strength  23 – 28 MPa
• Elongation at break  200 – 250%
• Young’s modulus  600 – 850 MPa
• Tear strength  35 – 39 J/m

RPU – Carbon offers a family of three RPUs, which are promised to act as the stiffest, most versatile polyurethane based resin. They perform well under stress, combining strength, stiffness, and toughness. These properties make RPU particularly useful for consumer electronics, automotive, and industrial components where excellent mechanical properties are needed. Specific examples for electronics, according to Sculpteo, would be computer mice, cell phones, or other electronic housings. They describe it as a ‘tough material with a high strength to weight ration or high temperature resistance.’ Manufacturers should find it suitable for automotive applications. RPU is available in black only.

• Ultimate tensile strength  40 – 55 MPa
• Elongation at break  90 – 140%
• Young’s modulus  1500 – 2000 MPa
• Tear strength  58 – 70 °C

PR – Prototyping Resin prints quickly, has excellent resolution, and performs well enough to withstand moderate functional testing. Sculpteo recommends this resin for small to medium parts in order to meet requirements for tolerance as well as precision and patterning, and it should be suitable in making components for auto, medical and consumer electronics. This is a rigid and low-strength resin which is recommended as perfect for detailed prototyping. It is not resistant to high temperatures, and not ‘particularly strong’, but Sculpteo does point out that it offers great resolution and also requires the least amount of post processing. It is also available in multiple colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black, Grey, and White.

• Ultimate tensile strength 26 – 32 MPa
• Elongation at break  15 – 28%
• Young’s modulus  600 – 950  MPa
• Impact strength  24 – 28  J/m

How exciting not just to have such an incredible new technology coming about, but also to have a list of extremely versatile new materials to go with it. To find out more about CLIP materials, check out additional information from Sculpteo. What are your thoughts on these different materials? Discuss in the Sculpteo CLIP 3D Printing Resins forum over at 3DPB.com.

[Images: Sculpteo]