3D Printing News Briefs, November 13, 2021: Formnext News & More

Welcome to today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, or should I say 3D Printing Formnext Briefs? It’s that time of year, and we’ve got three Formnext announcements to share in this edition: BOFA International will share the results of a paper it published on 3D printing industry emissions at the event, while Sartomer is introducing new dielectric resins and BigRep has established a partnership with Teton Simulation to integrate SmartSlice in large-format 3D printing. Moving on, a Swedish state-owned research institute is opening up a new center to accelerate the use of AM. Finally, 3DQue predicts that one million print jobs will have been run on its Quinly solution by the spring of 2022.

Formnext: BOFA International Presenting Results of Emissions Paper

At Formnext this coming week, fume extraction and filtration leader BOFA International isn’t just showing off its industrial filtering systems—the results of a paper it published on 3D printing industry emissions will also be available at the event. The report offers industry guidance on protecting employee health and product quality through effective filtration systems, and reviews the potentially harmful airborne gases and particulates emitted during fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printing and VAT polymerization methods, which together account for about 50% of the total components 3D printed in the industry. BOFA came back with some interesting findings, such as that the volume of particles generated by FFF processes is greatly influenced by the temperature of the printer nozzle, and that any emitted insoluble or low-solubility nanoparticles can pass through the human body’s defense mechanisms and wind up in the bloodstream, potentially being cared to other organs.

“The report highlights the importance of installing effective filtration solutions that can help capture and remove any potentially harmful emissions. This will not only help protect operatives from potentially harmful airborne contaminants but will also ensure that resulting product and the machines remain free from contamination,” said Ross Stoneham, Product Manager – 3DP & Growth Markets at BOFA International.

You can learn more about the findings of the report at BOFA International’s Booth E22, Hall 12.0, at Formnext this week. You can also download the paper here.

Formnext: Sartomer Introduces Ultra-Low Loss Materials

Arkema business line Sartomer is also going to Formnext, and introducing new ultra-low loss dielectric 3D printing resins with varied viscosities for radio frequency (RF) applications and advanced electronics. These UV-curable resins—PRO14729, PRO14730, and PRO14731—can provide a dielectric constant (Dk) of ≤ 3.0 and a dissipation factor (Df) of ≤ 0.0032, and are the first of many innovative materials in the company’s portfolio to support the electronics industry in applications such as antenna elements, lenses, radomes, B-staging, copper clad laminates, IoT, and server storage.

“As 3D printing is transforming electronics applications to meet demands of improved performance, functionality and speed to market, we are continuously working to develop materials technologies that optimize electrical performance as well as thermal and mechanical. To meet the growing electronic market’s specific needs, we have invested in a dedicated team of electronics specialists,” said Sumeet Jain, Senior Director of 3D Printing Worldwide at Arkema.

Visit Sartomer at Formnext in Booth F119, Hall 12.1, to see the new resins for yourself.

Formnext: BigRep & Teton Simulation Previewing Software Integration

Our last bit of Formnext news comes from BigRep and Teton Simulation, who established a partnership to integrate SmartSlice software into large-format 3D printing, and will be previewing the integration at the international industry event. SmartSlice helps industrial users define load cases for parts quickly, and then validate the final performance of the parts against deflections and the material’s mechanical limits, and the software also has built-in optimizer features for finding the best slicer settings for each section of a 3D geometry, which helps achieve optimal load-performance with a minimal amount of material. As a result of this partnership, large-format 3D printer users can experience the benefits of print parameter optimization and performance requirement-based validation for their industrial parts, which can help save on money, time, and material usage.

“Teton Simulation is excited to announce our collaboration with BigRep to bring the power of SmartSlice™ to large format prints,” stated Teton Simulation’s CEO Doug Kenik. “BigRep’s ability to create high-quality, production-level parts at such a large scale provides a great opportunity to reduce material waste, increase efficiency, and save project costs. And with BigRep BLADE slicer software we have the perfect vehicle to harvest the full power of SmartSlice™, bringing significant benefits to the users.”

The integration, which is currently working with BigRep materials like PRO HT and HI-TEMP CF, will be previewed next week at BigRep’s Booth F01, Hall 12.1.

Accelerating AM Use & Adoption at New Swedish Centre

Moving on, Swedish state-owned research institute and innovation partner RISE is working with several academic and industrial partners to open an Application Centre for Additive Manufacturing, in order to form a national ecosystem for 3D printing and accelerate its use in the country. The global market for 3D printing is only going to continue growing, so it’s important for Sweden to invest in the technology or risk getting left behind. In the new center, which will offer an open, independent environment for collaboration, partners will be able to test and demonstrate various AM methods, have access to the latest research, and gather expertise along the whole supply chain. With support from Sweden’s Västra Götaland region, Vinnova, and the European Regional Development Fund, RISE runs the centre, along with 15 partners: AddUp, Alfa Laval, Chalmers, Digital Metal, DNA.am, Ericsson, Höganäs, Materialise, Modul-System HH, Nikon Metrology Europe, RENA Technologies Austria, Ringhals (Vattenfall), Siemens Energy, Volvo Cars, and Volvo Group.

“Additive manufacturing is one of the new resource-efficient manufacturing technologies that, in addition to more circular material flows, is needed to make the future industry more sustainable,” said Kristina Jonäng (C), chair of the regional development committee in the Västra Götaland region. “The investment in the Application Center for Additive Manufacturing both broadens and strengthens Västra Götaland’s position in innovation and sustainable and digital manufacturing technologies.”

3DQue’s Quinly on Track to Deliver 1M Print Jobs

Finally, technology startup 3DQue Systems Inc. recently announced the one-year anniversary of shipping its first Quinly automation upgrade for 3D printers, and this sustainable automation solution has delivered more than 250,000 prints worldwide in that year; now, the company’s solution is on track to run one million 3D print jobs by the spring of 2022. Designed to be efficient, reliable, and scalable, Quinly is a virtual operator that runs 3D printers the way a human would, but 24/7, performing tasks like job scheduling, first layer adhesion, and part removal, while also providing real-time data, and doing it all without solvents, adhesives, or disposable beds. Currently compatible with five different 3D printer models, and another twelve in beta testing, Quinly can even access a printer’s built-in calibration tools to help achieve repeatable part delivery.

“Automation is the future of 3D printing. We are working closely with industry, academia, and the 3D printing industry to build that future together,” said 3DQue CEO and Co-Founder Steph Sharp. “Quinly automation reduces labour 97% and allows production of plastic and metal goods to relocate closer to the end user – on assembly lines, in warehouses, and in retail stores.”

If you’re interested in becoming a beta tester for 3DQue’s Quinly solution, contact Quinly_Beta_Testing@3DQue.com.