3D Printing News Briefs, October 9, 2021: Automation, Bioprinting, & More

We’re starting with new materials in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, then moving on to automation, bioprinting, and business. B9Creations introduced new resins for 3D printed molds and production parts, and 3DQue has made automation capabilities available for CR-10 and CR-6 SE 3D printers. Moving on, BICO launched a 3D bioprinting contract research offering. Finally, Sigma Labs has appointed a Senior Vice President, and Anisoprint is collaborating with Additive Flow on a topology optimization software solution.

B9Creations Introduces New Resin Line

AM solutions provider B9Creations recently launched a new line of robust resins that are compatible with its B9 Core Series of printers, able to create production-grade parts that can replace injection and metal molds. The first material in the line, Robust – ABS/PC resin, features a high heat deflection temperature (HDT), extremely smooth surface finish, and impact resistance, and is comparable to ABS/PC thermoplastic. The next, Robust – ABS, is a rigid, durable, heat- and impact-resistant material with a similar stability to ABS plastic. Robust – ABS/PC is a good choice for 3D printing less expensive molds and enabling short-run production, while Robust – ABS works for strong, stiff parts.

“I’ve gone from outsourcing 5 parts with other technology to 3D printing 100+ parts in the same timeframe with the B9 Core Series 3D printers and the Robust material line, because I can get high-precision parts in an hour,” said an advanced R&D engineer at one of the largest manufacturing companies in the United States. “It’s not only enabled our R&D, but it has also onshored our manufacturing and opened up a wide range of low-volume, custom business we’ve had to say no to in the past because of cost and minimum order quantity requirements.”

3DQue Automates More 3D Printers

Technology startup 3DQue, which is focused on making high-volume production more available to makers, engineers, and entrepreneurs, has expanded its Quinly automation line to support bigger 3D printers, starting with the CR-10 and CR-6 SE by Creality. The CR-10, with a 300 x 300 mm VAAPR build plate, is the largest Quinly-supported printer yet, and allows users to automate the printing of larger parts, or larger batches of parts, with supposedly no warping. The CR-6 SE has a high-performance VAPPR print bed for reliable adhesion, and also features automated filament run-out sensor and bed leveling. Quinly for CR-10 and CR-6 SE is now available for pre-sale.

Mateo Pekic, 3DQue’s Chief of Innovations, said, “Quinly for CR-10 lets you automate the biggest prints yet enabling 24/7 lights-out production of large parts, props, costume pieces, and more, saving lots of time for both print farms and hobbyists.”

BICO Subsidiaries Establish Contract Research Organization

Moving on, bioconvergence startup BICO Group subsidiaries CELLINK, MatTek, and Visikol have launched a collaboration that combines their collective expertise in order to set up a 3D bioprinting services contract research offering (CRO). MatTek brings its decades of primary cell isolation experience to the partnership, while CELLINK offers bioprinting design and biomaterial development expertise and Visikol consists of experts in assay development, as well as closing the gap between animal studies and 3D models. Together, the three will offer customers a first-of-its-kind, full-service 3D biomanufacturing and in vitro analysis service, which will also increase their commitment to BICO’s Bio Convergence agenda.

“Our complementary technologies and expertise make this partnership with CELLINK and Visikol a natural fit for us. We’re thrilled to increase our product and service offerings and expand access to more human-relevant testing methods for our customers,” said MatTek’s CEO Alex Armento.

Sigma Labs Hires Former GE Additive Executive

Metal AM quality assurance software developer Sigma Labs, Inc. (NASDAQ: SGLB) has appointed Jacob Brunsberg, a former executive with GE Additive, as its Senior Vice President, DMQP Program. Brunsberg, who mostly recently held senior P&L and strategy positions at GE Additive for the last four years, will lead the company’s strategic relationships, marketing programs, and product management. With his level of expertise, Brunsberg will work to strengthen Sigma Labs’ IPQA product development and commercialization as well.

“I could not be more pleased to be a part of Sigma Labs. Our mission of setting the additive manufacturing in-process quality standard is important to manufacturers and OEMS, as well as the entire industry. I’ve been following Sigma Labs for some time and believe its unique technology and commitment to quality present a tremendous growth opportunity. I look forward to contributing to the Company’s ongoing success,” Brunsberg said.

Anisoprint & Additive Flow Partner for Topology Optimization

Topology optimized aircraft support

Finally, composite 3D printing startup Anisoprint worked with AM software developer Additive Flow to offer a full-scale topology optimization CAE software tool for composite materials design that’s compatible with its own Aura slicing software. Because of this collaboration, Additive Flow’s FormFlow software can now export files that are compatible with Anisoprint’s proprietary slicer, and achieve advanced materials design. Composites are great because of how versatile they are, but they’re not cheap, which is why properly optimizing them can save on costs, and open up more applications. Additionally, while continuous composite 3D printing is automated, special expertise is necessary in order to design anisotropic structures, but using the CAE tool for structural anisotropic design and performance analysis can result in more effective topology for the parameters. Using this AI-powered multimaterial software solution by the two European companies, users can smoothly optimize geometry for composite materials throughout the entire design process.

“Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) is one of the hottest topics. Not only because different additive manufacturing technologies require a specific approach for design, but they make designs that were impossible before possible now,” explained Fedor Antonov, CEO of Anisoprint. “As technology developers, we need to offer our customers tools and a smooth workflow for DfAM, that will help to get the most out of the unique hardware and material capabilities our solutions provide. We are happy to find partners with whom we can shortcut the long and difficult R&D cycle of developing a DfAM solution, fully capable to support Anisoprinting. And it is already available for users within a simple workflow and native integration of our software products – Formflow and Aura 2.4.”