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

At JEC World Composites Show 2017 Cevotec GmbH, Taufkirchen, Germany, introduced the first industrial solution for the automated production of complex carbon composites in high volumes: the preforming system Samba and the matching CAD-CAM software Artist Studio. The novel system is based on the Fiber Patch Placement (FPP) technology which enables the fully automated production of complex 3D composite geometries – in a continuous process from digital design to the final fiber product. 

Industrial Fiber Patch Placement  

Faserverarbeitung

Preforming System Samba 

Additive manufacturing is leaving the confines of prototyping behind it and breaking out into mass production. Coobx AG, Balzers, Liechtenstein, offers three different production lines with different degrees of automation to specifically target different customer requirements. 

Fully Automated Production Lines for Additive Manufacturing 

Automatisierungskomponenten

Breaking out of the Niche 

The production of plastic profiles and film is carried out with highly developed dies in which the geometries are coordinated precisely to the flow properties of the plastics. This coordination often requires long iteration loops in simulation and experiment. These loops represent a considerable cost and time factor, and threaten the prospects of manufacturing in high-wage countries.  

Additively manufactured demonstrator die (© IKV/Fröls) 

Excellence Clusters Studies Additively Manufactured Extrusion Dies 

Extrusionswerkzeuge

Extrusion

Werkzeug- und Formenbau

Technik Trend

kunststoffe-international.com

Fast Product Change in Extrusion  

Everybody knows 3D, but 4D? Scientists use the term 4D printing to refer to the simple production of objects that can transform their shape at different times. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now taken this approach one major step further by developing a construction principle that can produce load-bearing and predictable structures. 

Researchers Develop New 4D Printing Process 

Kautschuk / Elastomere

Fabrication Technology in the Fourth Dimension 

Until now, experts saw the prospects for additive manufacturing in medicine mostly in the individualization of therapeutic products. However, the manufacturing of bioreactors can profit from advancements in generative processes as well. Building them using additive manufacturing procedures is not only easier but it also provides bioreactors, which mimic biological conditions more realistically. 

High-Function Integrated Plastics Systems for the Cell-Based Laboratory Medicine 

Biomimicry – One Layer at a Time 

From aerospace and defense to digital dentistry and medical devices, 3D printed parts are used in a variety of industries. They are comprised of many thin layers of materials, plastics in this case, deposited on top of each other to form a desired shape. These layers are prone to fracturing, causing issues with the durability and reliability of the part when used in a real-world application, for example a custom printed medical device. That is why they are currently used only in the prototyping phase of materials or as a toy for display.Brandon Sweeney and his advisor Dr. Micah Green discovered a way to make 3-D printed parts stronger and immediately useful in real-world applications. Sweeney and Green applied the traditional welding concepts to bond the submillimeter layers in a 3-D printed part together, while in a microwave. 

Welding of 3D Printed Carbon Nanotube-Polymer Composites 

Stronger 3D Printed Parts 

SMS Group, Düsseldorf, Germany, introduces 3D spray heads that cut cycle time and increase tool service life in closed-die forging. 

Spray heads printed to the 3D method have less weight, are process-optimized in design and more flexible in use (© SMS)  

3D Spray Heads 

90 Percent Lighter than Steel Parts 

A new patent from 3M Deutschland GmbH, Neuss, Germany, makes it possible to process fully fluorinated polymers such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) by 3D printing. Together with its subsidiary Dyneon GmbH, 3M is driving advances in the additive manufacture of geometrically complex parts from prototypes to small-lot production. In the area of plastics fillers, spherical, hollow glass microspheres (3M Glass Bubbles) are being promoted. They are easy to process, thermally insulating, rapid-cooling or act as a white pigment, and reduce component weight significantly. They are already widely used in the automotive industry thanks to useful programs such as the "weight-volume calculator", which increase understanding of the filler and point up potential applications. In order to further optimize use of the filler in future, 3M has initiated a partner program to assist its customers in the best possible way with technical expertise and training in the use and processing of the filler. 

3D printing of fully fluorinated polymers is suitable for the production of complex components from prototypes to small lots and has been patented (© 3M) 

3M Deutschland 

Innovations and Lightweight Design 

The manufacture of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic components for automotive serial production must be fast and cost-competitive. The ideal solution would be a one-stage process. In a potential study, a selective fiber placement unit was tested that combines fiber placement, resin injection, and curing in a single process step – with placement rates of up to 1 m/s. 

Additive Manufacture of Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced Components Using UV Radiation 

Automatisierungstechnik

Harze

Reaktionsharze

Verbundwerkstoffe / Werkstoffverbunde

Kohlenstofffasern / -matten

Fasern

Mastermind in the Fiber Placement Head 

In contrast to recent years, when particular key themes often dominated the fair exhibits of the leading injection molding machine builders, this year’s Fakuma will present more combinations of many different competences in complex production cells. Thus, Industry 4.0 not only takes slowly concrete shape, but is put into context with peripherals and controls in the development of new series. 

Re-Inventing Injection Molding Holistically  

Servomotoren

Handling, Handhabungstechnik

Instandhaltung, Wartung in der spanenden Fertigung

ERP-Systeme

Steuern, Regeln

Industrie 4.0

Polyurethan

Spritzgießwerkzeuge

Mehrkomponenten-Spritzgießen

Gasinjektionstechnik

Schaumspritzgießen

Temperiertechnik

Reinraumsysteme / -technik

Oberflächentechnik

Machines as the Heart of Production 

After the explosion of developments in polymer formulations over the last year, it is worth taking a closer look during Fakuma at details such as functional additives or application-specific modifications. Overall, lightweight design continues to spur development but defined surface characteristics are also in demand. The reported innovations do not just follow current consumer trends but also provide ideas for advanced product and process developments. 

Functional Modifications Characterize Developments in Additives and Compounds 

Hochleistungskunststoffe

Polyamide

Polypropylen

Compound

Additive

Farbstoffe

Pigmente

Füllstoffe für Kunststoffe

Compoundeure

Distribuenten

Polymers Can Be Expected Everywhere 

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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