Arburg Plastic Freeforming is predestined for the additive manufacturing of medtech components. The associated Freeformer-type additive manufacturing systems process the same plastic pellets that are used in injection molding. That makes the open systems very economical to use.

In the AKF process, resorbable original materials such a plate-implants similar to bone, can be manufactured. They are gradually replaced by endogenous tissue

Medical Product Manufacturers Are Processing Original Materials Using the Freeformer

Anlagen Additive Fertigung / 3D-Druck, andere

Anlagen für die Additive Fertigung

Biokunststoffe

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Additive Fertigung

Medizintechnik

Medizinprodukte

Werkstoffe für additive Verfahren

Andere Werkstoffe

Arburg Kunststoff Freiformen

Verfahren für die additive Fertigung

Freiraumverfahren

New Possibilities for Use  in the Human Body

tesa develops e. g. adhesives for smartphone components and investigate the added value that additive manufacturing with plastics freeforming can bring.

“Printed” pressure-sensitive adhesives can be used, for example, to bond smartphone components together, without producing any waste

16:9

tesa Uses Freeformer for Novel Bonding Applications

Klebstoffe

Verbindungstechnik Verfahren

Chemisches Fügeverfahren

What Holds the World together

Additive manufacturing has the potential to manufacture tablets individualized for the particular patient, and thereby further digitalize the pharmaceutical industry. In medication development, the properties of a tablet, such as its shape, dosage or release of the active substance, can be individually tailored – by making just a few changes to the digital 3D print file. Merck scientists have used a Freeformer for their lab tests.

Merck researcher Dr. Thomas Kipping (right) and Nabil Lamrabet value the advantages that the Freeformer offers as an open system.

The Freeformer Allows a Tailor-Made Combination of Several Active Ingredients

Anlagen Additive Fertigung / 3D-Druck, Kunststoff

Patient-Specific Tablets

Arburg presents a total of four Allrounder exhibits and two Freeformers on show. All machines will be connected live to the Arburg host computer system ALS for demonstration purposes and to the arburgXworld customer portal, another focus of the trade fair display. Detailed information on the arburgGreenworld environmental and recycling program will round off Arburg‘s involvement in Chinaplas.

Arburg will be demonstrating the potential of freeformers for additive manufacturing on two exhibits at Chinaplas 2022.

Spritzgießen

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Verfahren

Spritzgießmaschinen

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Maschinen und Komponenten

High-End Wherever You Look

Perstorp Holding AB, Perstorp, Sweden, and 3D4Makers, Haarlem, the Netherlands, are developing a new generation of high quality, high performance filament. As the world’s first fifth-generation 3D filament, Facilan enables applications previously unobtainable with other 3D printing materials. 

Next-Generation 3D Printing Filament 

3D Filament Facilan 

At the beginning of May, Jürgen Becky took over the helm of BASF’s European plastics business. He is steering the ship in the direction of polyamides, 3D printing, and digitalization. In the interview, he explains why BASF is not just a material supplier, why business could not be going better, and why the company will not get everything it would have liked from Solvay. 

Interview with Jürgen Becky on Goals, Markets, and Trends for BASF Plastics 

Industrie 4.0

Polyamide

"Service Requires Trust" 

Sabic has launched the new Lexan EXL AMHI240F filament. This  product is based on the company’s Lexan EXL polycarbonate (PC) copolymer technology, which delivers high impact performance and low-temperature ductility. 

High Toughness, High Strength 

Polycarbonat

Lexan EXL Filament 

Eos GmbH, Krailling, Germany, introduces Eos P 500, he automation-ready manufacturing platform for laser sintering of plastic parts on an industrial scale. According to the manufacturer, Eos P 500 yields high quality components at the lowest cost-per-part ratio as well as maximum productivity for processing polymers at operating temperatures of up to 300°C. 

Eos P 500 

Operating Temperatures of up to 300 °C 

PET plastics such as water bottles and packaging are one of the most prolific wastes found on the battlefield. U.S. and coalition forces produce large volumes of this waste. A collaboration between the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and the U.S. Marine Corps shows, how useful a used plastic water bottle might be for the military. 

3D Filament from Post-Consumer PET Used to 3D Print Spare Parts 

Polyethylenterephthalat

Kunststoff-Recycling

Technik Trend

kunststoffe-international.com

From Plastic Waste to a Valuable Resource 

When surgeons operate on the aorta, they generally rely on computer tomographic images. For the first time, a team at the Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany, has applied the 3D printing process to visualize and diagnose complex conditions more quickly. Transparent 3D models support a better understanding of diseases and also serve to train future vascular surgeons. 

The Medical Center of the University of Mainz Improves Vascular Surgery  with 3D Printed Patient Specific Models  

Main Arteries from the Printer 

For individualized implants, mainly powder-based processes with titanium alloys are used in additive manufacturing. However, PEEK would have advantages in terms of imaging as well as its bone-like density and mechanics. Thus, the FFF process has to be adapted to the high demands of high-performance plastics like PEEK. 

Individualized Implants Made from High Performance Polymers via Additive Manufacturing 

Polyetherketon

Hot Printer 

Researchers at Fraunhofer IPA have developed a new process that combines 3D printing and casting. In additive freeform casting (AFFC), first a shell of the part is manufactured using FLM printing, then this shell is filled with a two-component resin. This saves time, increases stability of the part and allows new materials to be printed. 

Additive Freeform Casting 

Combining the Benefits of 3D Printing and Casting

 

As part of RP Technologies¿ ongoing investment and expansion plans the company has invested more than £130,000 on additional machinery. The company has purchased a Borche 600-tonne injection moulding machine to add to their already impressive suite of machinery in their West Midlands based facility. The new machine will increase their part size offering to components with a shot weight capacity up to 2.3kg.  

Rapid Prototyping

RP Technologies Invest more than £130,000 to increase their Injection Moulding Capacity 

... Dr. Christof Hübner, group leader for nanocomposites at the Fraunhofer Institute of Chemical Technology in Pfinztal, Germany. The Fraunhofer ICT has been involved with additive manufacturing since the 1990s. At the Fakuma 2017, the scientists amazed the trade visitors with glowing USB sticks made from functionalized PC/ABS. For this purpose, they had made the plastic conductive with the aid of carbon nanotubes and processed the composite using Arburg Plastic Freeforming. 

Fraunhofer ICT Processes Conductive Material in Additive Manufacturing 

Elektrisch leitende Füllstoffe (Metalllegierungen, Ruß, Graphit)

Illuminating Idea 

Function Integration in Additive Manufacturing

Up to now, the integration of electronic components and consequently, the production of customized 3D-printed sensors has presented a challenge. Now, together with the companies Arburg and Balluff, Fraunhofer IPA has achieved a breakthrough.

3D-printing is becoming increasingly important in industrial manufacturing. It not only makes it possible to produce very complex shapes that would otherwise be virtually impossible to generate using conventional processes, but also enables small batch numbers to be produced on a cost-effective basis. However, up to now, the integration of electronic components and consequently, the production of customized sensors has presented a challenge. Now, together with the Baden- Württemberg-based companies Arburg and Balluff, Fraunhofer IPA has achieved a breakthrough.

Sensors in individualized form are interesting for tasks in automation technology, as they can be used flexibly for a variety of applications. Inductive proximity sensors are available in cylindrical metal casings in which a coil, a circuit board and a plug are installed in a fixed configuration – a standard component with a fixed geometry.

In automation technology, inductive proximity sensors are used in great numbers for non-contact detection of metal objects. In industrial applications they can not only register the proximity of a component, but also at what distance it is located. However, due to the shape of the casings, inductive proximity sensors for integration in specific environments – robotic arm gripper fingers, for example – had not yet been developed until now.

Why not print the sensor casing in plastic so that it can be manufactured in any shape? This is exactly what a research team from the Centre for Additive Production at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA has now achieved. The team was supported by colleagues from the plastics processing machine manufacturer Arburg GmbH & Co. KG and the sensor and automation specialist Balluff GmbH.

A plastic with high dielectric strength and flame-retardant properties was required for the sensor casing. The experts opted for semi-crystalline plastic polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), which is used as standard injection molding material for the production of electronic casings. However, this type of material had not yet been used for 3D printing, necessitating work of a pioneering nature.

The plastic was fed in granulate form into a “freeformer”, Arburg’s industrial additive manufacturing system, which uses a material preparation unit with a special plasticizing screw. After melting the standard granulate, the freeforming process, which uses no molds, followed: A high frequency nozzle closure discharged tiny plastic droplets, which could be precisely positioned with the aid of a movable part carrier.

In this way, the freeformer created three-dimensional components with cavities layer by layer, into which components could be inserted during the printing process. To make this possible, the freeformer automatically interrupted the process at each respective layer, so that the coil, circuit board and plug could be integrated very precisely. In a separate process, a dispenser was then used to produce the silver conductor tracks inside the casing. To complete the process, all that was needed was to overprint the cavities and then pot them in polyurethane.

The team produced more than 30 demonstration models of customized sensors in this way and then put them through their paces: the components had to be able to withstand temperature changes and vibrations, they had to be waterproof and pass an electrical insulation test. By optimizing the design and manufacturing process, the tests were ultimately completed successfully.

The “Electronic Function Integration in Additively Manufactured Components” research project ran for eighteen months. Stefan Pfeffer, who led the project at Fraunhofer IPA, is currently working with Arburg on research into how conductive plastics can also be used in the future to tap into additional application areas.

Balluff GmbH  

https://www.balluff.de

Fraunhofer-Institut für Produktionstechnik und Automatisierung (IPA) 

https://www.ipa.fhg.de

ARBURG GmbH + Co KG  

https://www.arburg.com

Demonstration model of customized sensor at different production stages: CAD concept (top left), after integrationof the electronic components (top right) and as a finished demonstration model (bottom)

2021-11-09 TN Fraunhofer IPA Arburg

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