Axtra3D Revolutionizes AM with “No Tradeoffs” Photopolymerization Solutions and Technologies

Axtra3D, an emerging leader, is transforming the photopolymerization AM industry with its Lumia X1 3D printer. What sets Axtra3D apart is not only its cutting-edge technology but also its executive team, which consists of seasoned veterans and innovators from the AM industry who have successfully deployed hundreds of AM solutions throughout their careers. This expertise has culminated in a distinct AM platform, solutions portfolio, and business models designed specifically to meet customer needs.

The revolutionary technologies that redefine its capabilities and performance include,

• Hybrid PhotoSynthesis (HPS): This technology integrates a laser and a DLP system to simultaneously image internal and external structures. The DLP handles large areas for high throughput, while the laser focuses on intricate details and external walls, ensuring high resolution.
• TruLayer Separation: This ensures seamless layer transitions and elimination of hydrostatic forces by rapidly detaching the active print layer and moving to the next one. This reduces wait times and enables large glass-like surfaces.
• TruLayer Adaption: Ensuring absolute flatness of the glass plate for each layer, this dynamically adjusts the plate to maintain the precise resin thickness required.

The Advantages

Kirill Tulinov from Dinsmore indicates, “It’s only a matter of time before people notice the importance of this collaboration of two technologies into one, DLP filling while you have the accuracy and surface finish of the laser.”

• Elimination of Tradeoffs: The Lumia X1’s Hi-Speed SLA system overcomes traditional compromises between throughput, accuracy, feature resolution, and surface finish.
• Enhanced Throughput: It achieves 2X-20X faster print speeds compared to conventional DLP, LCD, and SLA printers.
• Glass-like Surface Finish: Large 9.5” x 5.8” cross-sections are printed with a surface flatness of 20 microns, delivering a glass-like finish.
• Extensive Material Portfolio: Partnerships with leading material manufacturers like BASF, 3D Systems, Henkel, NextDent, Keystone, and Pro3Dure ensures materials that are durable, tough, elastomers, silicones, high-temperature, ESD, fire retardant, and biocompatible.

Business Models for Diverse Needs 

Axtra3D offers business models for varying customer needs.

Axtra Solutions™ provides fully optimized, turnkey 3D printing solutions supported by Axtra3D’s Applications team and material partners.

Axtra OpenAccess™ allows customers the flexibility to experiment with new materials and applications and supports adaptability, and flexibility.

Axtra Solutions™

The Lumia X1’s successful solutions include:

Concept Injection Molding with Ceramic Mold Inserts

Traditional tooling involves significant lead times, high costs and inhibit innovation as designers are often forced to compromise. Axtra3D has developed an efficient solution using the Lumia X1 and Ultracur3D® RG 3280, a ceramic-loaded polymer, to produce high-quality mold inserts.

The entire process from CAD design to finished part can be completed within an 8-hour workday. In one instance, Becton Dickinson produced over 30 parts using polypropylene in one day. The next iteration included automatic ejection, resulting in the production of 300 polycarbonate and polypropylene parts from a single set of molds. The total cost for the additively manufactured mold inserts was under $100. Brett Charlton, Becton Dickinson, indicates, “Mold inserts built on the Lumia X1 have reduced our turnaround time dramatically. We can now go from a design to an injected part by the end of the day.”

The ceramic-loaded polymer exhibits high stiffness and temperature resistance, and the precise printing capabilities ensure mold flatness to meet stringent requirements of high clamp forces and injection pressures. Between 300 and 3,000 parts can be injected from materials like polycarbonate, polypropylene, TPE, and TPU directly into these inserts.

Electronic Connectors

The printer is setting new standards of fast throughput, high accuracy, repeatability, and fire-retardant properties. The crisp edges and consistent hole diameters make it ideal for precise electronic components. The dual-imaging process allows InPower® to produce 60 electronic connectors in less than three hours. HPS and TruLayer Separation combination ensures fine details like 300 microns holes, intricate edges and they exhibit fire retardant and possess ESD properties.

Functional Prototypes and Low Volume Production

The combination of throughput, surface finish, accuracy, and resolution ensure that parts produced by the Lumia X1 are comparable to injection-molded parts. Its ability to handle large parts up to 19” with fine features and smooth surfaces is invaluable for prototyping and low-volume manufacturing. Successful adoption in this area has been in functional automotive prototypes of engine components, interior parts, and highly detailed parts, allowing for rapid testing and validation. Furthermore, lightweight aerospace components that need high-strength and need to be exact to specifications. Within durable goods, thin-walled components, housing covers, panels, that enable assembly consolidation.

For more details on the Lumia X1 by Axtra3D with its no tradeoff 3D printing technology visit https://axtra3d.com/lumia-x1/