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.

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

Buzz words such as rapid prototyping (RP) and additive manufacturing (AM) are more relevant than ever in medicine. But only a few experts would know that the additive processes underlying these concepts have been employed in healthcare with growing success for more than three decades. Major care centers now routinely employ 3-D planning and 3-D printing in highly specialized surgical disciplines, such as oral and maxillofacial surgery. 

An Innovative Manufacturing Process for Custom PEEK Implants 

Polyetherketon

Custom Implants for Humans  from a 3-D Printer 

Over 6,500 visitors from 55 nations flocked to the Arburg Technology Days 2016. With approx. 50 exhibits, the Black Forest-based machine maker presented a comprehensive overview of its latest activities in injection  molding, additive manufacturing and on the topic of "Industry 4.0 in plastics processing". The highlight of the event was the world premiere of a new electric machine series. 

World Premiere of the "Golden Electric" Electric Machines Series 

Automatisierungstechnik

Industrie 4.0

Spritzgießmaschinen

Spritzgießen

Gold Fever 

Royal DSM is partnering with Nexeo Solutions, a global chemical and plastics distributor, to bring new, high-value, performance filaments to customers who do 3-D printing using fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology. 

High-Performance Filaments for 3-D Printing 

Polyamide

Arnitel ID and Novamid ID 

When it comes to 3D printing hair or fur, the problem is not so much the printing itself, but rather the generation of the necessary three-dimensional model. The usual CAD software requires an extreme amount of time, frequently taking the computer hardware to its limits.  

MIT Software Cilllia for Generative Manufacturing of Delicate Structures 

Technik Trend

kunststoffe-international.com

3D Printing: A Hairy Issue  

Using a sophisticated, custom-designed 3D printer, regenerative medicine scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, NC/USA, have proved that it is feasible to print living tissue structures to replace injured or diseased tissue in patients. 

Ear, Bone and Muscle Structures from the Printer 

Thermoplaste

3D Printing of Replacement Tissue 

On the eve of the K 2016, and following the two most successful years in the company’s history, Arburg is cloaked in silence – as far as the planned product launches in Düsseldorf are concerned. Meanwhile, the newly opened factory in the Lossburg parent plant fuels speculations about an advance into the large machine sector. 

Arburg Enjoys Booming Business and Keeps its Plans for the K Show Secret 

Guessing Games 

Stratasys Ltd. offers world’s only 3D printer to produce full color, multi-material prototypes and parts in a single 3D print, eliminating time-consuming processes and accelerating product concepting, design, decisions, and delivery. The J750 enables customers for the first time to mix-and-match full color gradients alongside an unprecedented range of materials to achieve one-stop realism without post-processing. 

One-Stop Realism Drives near Instantaneous Decision-Making 

3D Printer J750 

Preventive maintenance, autonomous readjustment in ongoing processes, large-scale production in lots of just one item, human-machine collaboration – K2016 had a treasure trove of Industry 4.0 technologies in store for visitors. Injection molding machine makers and their partner companies from the fields of toolmaking, automation and sensor technology especially did not hold back on their sample applications. 

K 2016 Makes the Digitization of the Industry Tangible 

Instandhaltung

ERP-Systeme

Steuern, Regeln

Werkzeugwechselsysteme

Werkzeugwechselsysteme, Spritzgieß

Instandhaltungsmanagement (TPM)

Qualitätssicherung

A Treasure Trove of "Industry 4.0" Technologies 

Additive manufacturing processes with their great potential for automation and functional integration promise to revolutionize the production of plastic products. Besides the well-known strengths, the processes also have deficits such as the attainable tolerances and surface properties as well as the unresolved question of the integration of inserts. A new hybrid concept of additive and subtractive production provides an approach for the economical production of function-integrated parts. 

IKV Combines a Completely Automated Plant for Additive Production with Conventional Production Techniques 

Bohr- und Fräswerke

Fräswerkzeuge

Extruder

Inserttechnik

Hybridtechnik

Industrieroboter

Hybrid Manufacturing Strategy for Functionally Integrated Single Parts 

With K 2016 in Düsseldorf, Germany, and formnext in Frankfurt/Main, Germany, professionals with an interest in additive manufacturing had two opportunities last year to gain a sense of the spirit of innovation in the industry. One issue was particularly prominent: the increase in production efficiency. This improves the economy of using the different 3D printing processes. 

A Diversity of Suppliers and Physical Cross-Linking Make Possible New Business Models and Application Scenarios for Additive Manufacturing  

Rapid Prototyping

Rapid Manufacturing

Selektives Laserschmelzen von Kunststoff, Metall, Keramik

Selektives Lasersintern von Kunststoff, Metall, Keramik

Faserverarbeitung

Spritzgießwerkzeuge

All Elements at a Glance 

In addition to improved plant technology, new materials are being developed for additive manufacturing processes. These include elastomers which, by their irreversible cross-linking, have a different behavior than thermoplastics. An investigation shows that commercially available silicone rubbers can be processed via additive manufacturing – with high strength in relation to conventionally manufactured silicone rubbers. 

Silicones as a Material Group for Additive Manufacturing on the Test Bench 

Kautschuk / Elastomere

Silikone

Elastomers of the Third Dimension 

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  

Preforming System Samba 

6700 guests from over 50 countries – once again the Technology Days, held from March 15 to 18, 2017 at Arburg, confirmed the company’s strategy. Roughly 50 exhibits were on display, covering all major topics such as lightweight construction, medical technology and packaging. Situated in the Black Forest in Germany, Arburg followed a "pragmatic" approach to "Industry 4.0", this year.  

Arburg Technology Days: From Prototyping Center to Turnkey Injection Molding Solution 

Handling, Handhabungstechnik

Mehrkomponenten-Spritzgießen

Montagetechnik

Magnet for Visitors 

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 

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)

16:9

2021-11-09 TN Fraunhofer IPA Arburg

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