Roboze Launches Hypermelt Technology for ARGO 1000 Pellet-based 3D Printer

Roboze, the Italian-US based original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of additive manufacturing (AM) platforms for ultra-strong composites and super polymers, will be debuting a new heated build chamber/specialized extruder technology called Hypermelt at Formnext 2023. Roboze claims that, when paired with Hypermelt, the company’s ARGO 1000 3D printer is the largest pellet-based 3D printer in the world.

The ARGO 1000 with Hypermelt enables users to 3D print polymer parts capable of performing like metals with volumes up to 1 cubic meter, at rates as fast as 2 kg per hour. Roboze claims that this makes the ARGO 1000 ten times faster than filament-based methods, while simultaneously lowering production costs by as much as 60 percent.

Attendees of Formnext 2023 in Frankfurt (November 7-10) can see the ARGO 1000 with Hypermelt at Roboze’s booth (C21) in pavilion 11.1.

In a press release about the launch of Hypermelt at Formnext 2023, Roboze’s CEO, Alessio Lorusso, said, “Hypermelt technology offers our customers the possibility to produce large production batches competitively compared to traditional techniques and to obtain components up to 1 cubic meter at a cost far lower than current large-format filament technology, with up to 10 times the speed. This innovation marks a new era in 3D manufacturing with advanced materials.”

Simone Cuscito, chief R&D officer at Roboze, said, “Hypermelt technology represents an extraordinary revolution in [AM], with the potential to completely change the way the world produces large format parts in high-performance materials. We are proud of this important result achieved thanks to the commitment and vision of the Roboze team and to be at the forefront of this transformation. We believe that the combination of Hypermelt technology and ARGO 1000 is a turning point in the history of the manufacturing industry.”

Roboze’s activities provide some of the best evidence that, however much progress may be happening in all other classes of materials, polymers and composites are still at the forefront of innovation in the AM sector. As I mentioned in a recent post about the acceptance of Roboze’s 3D printed parts for the oil & gas supply chain in Nigeria, the continued acceleration of innovation in 3D printed polymers and composites has special implications, above all, for less industrialized areas of the global economy.

For one thing, this is because of the relatively great distance separating such markets from the central links in the global supply chains for finished metal parts. At the same time as they’re far-removed from metal parts hubs, though, such markets also tend to be important sources of fossil energy. From a long-term perspective, then, focusing on AM-driven production of parts made from high-performance polymers and composites could allow nations like Nigeria to not only make up for a lack of control over their source of metal goods. It could also allow them to become the key players in the next generation of polymer parts, by creating largely self-sustaining fossil fuel supply chains nearest to the points of need.

As with any remotely fundamental transformation to the total planetary manufacturing landscape, this would require constant effort on a long timeline and harmonization between a great multitude of moving pieces. Nevertheless, two developments that could do much to streamline that process — larger production batches and the feasibility of recycling the feedstocks used as material inputs — have been given a huge boost by Roboze’s combination of ARGO 1000 with Hypermelt.

Images courtesy of Roboze