Advancing the Development of 3D Printing Materials by Fostering Collaborative Partnerships Globally and Locally

By Sumeet Jain, Global Director for 3D Printing Business, Sartomer and Hélène Egret, European Market Manager 3D Printing

Unlocking new opportunities in additive manufacturing is a collaborative effort that brings together technologies and expertise to identify needs and create comprehensive solutions along the product development process. These close partnerships are at the heart of successful adoption of 3D printing on a mass manufacturing scale.

Recognizing the Promise and Scope of Digital Manufacturing

As pioneers in materials development for additive manufacturing, Arkema saw the promise of 3D printing over traditional manufacturing techniques, including faster development cycles, freedom of design and personalization, lighter parts, less waste and less assembly, and decentralized manufacturing.

Today, Arkema leverages its technical expertise across multiple materials technologies through its 3D Printing Solutions by Arkema platform. Led by its flagship brands, including Sartomer’s N3xtDimension® liquid resins, Rilsan® biosourced polyamide 11 and ultra-high-performance Kepstan® PEKK polymer, Arkema’s product offerings span all major 3D manufacturing technologies – UV curing, powder bed fusion and extrusion – in partnership with the market’s major players. Through this platform, Arkema can respond effectively to a broad list of material specifications for mechanical and thermal resistance, flexibility, transparency, color and durability.

Supporting Innovation Globally and Locally

Arkema operates 3D printing centers of excellence around the world that support UV curing, powder bed fusion and extrusion technologies, where internal experts work with customer partners to develop cutting-edge 3D printing solutions. These facilities enable global technical expertise to support innovative developments, as well as dedicated local R&D and technical collaboration.

Arkema opened the 3D Printing Center of Excellence dedicated to UV curing additive manufacturing at the Sartomer Americas headquarters in Exton, Pennsylvania (USA) in July 2018. The facility provides an advanced R&D lab where Sartomer can work alongside partners to develop cutting-edge 3D printing resins through advanced materials research and collaboration.

To further foster collaboration with customer partners in Europe, this year Sartomer opened a new UV curing 3D printing lab in its R&D centerin Verneuil, France. Here, highly skilled experts work with customers using state-of-the art synthesis, printing, applicative and processing equipment to solve additive manufacturing material challenges and test their performance for a wide variety of applications and industries. Sartomer’s dedicated team of scientists develops custom materials and resins for unique end-use applications to enable success for customers in numerous markets including aerospace, medical, dental, automotive, industrial and consumer goods.

Introducing New Engineered Resins at Formnext

Sartomer’s portfolio of N3xtDimension® engineered UV-curable liquid resins is specifically designed to advance the high-performance characteristics of 3D-printed products. N3xtDimension® resins are ideal for multi-jet printing (MJP), stereolithography (SLA), digital light processing (DLP) and binder jetting (BJ) 3D printing technologies.

As our portfolio of N3xtDimension® resins continues to grow, we are excited to announce three new products and to highlight established solutions at Formnext at Arkema’s booth in hall 12.1, E99. These products are:

• New high-temperature resin N3D T-1105 with superior heat deflection temperature that allows low deformation at high temperatures.

• New low-viscosity resin N3D C-1115 for casting applications that provides easy formulating, high resolution and clean burnout. 

• New impact-modifying resin PRO22362 that offers improved impact performance while preserving hardness or rigidity. 

• N3D I-2105 that imparts excellent impact resistance to 3D-printed materials and enables the manufacturing of functional parts.

• N3D F-2115 that achieves different flexibilities depending on the post treatment applied.

• N3D P-2125 prototyping resin that exhibits a homogeneous network, enabling excellent processability and limited evolution of mechanical properties after post-curing.

Looking Ahead

Strategic partnerships, customized engineered resins and chemist-to-chemist support give additive manufacturers the technological and market edge they need to be at the forefront of 3D printing innovation.

To learn more about our unique approach to the additive manufacturing marketplace, visit our experts at Formnext, in hall 12.1, E99, November 19-22 in Frankfurt, Germany.

To access Sartomer’s full range of N3xtDimension® resins or to contact our technical experts, please visit our UV-curable 3D printing solutions site.