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

Researchers on the CAMed project being conducted by the Medical University of Graz are working on producing custom implants in the hospital using 3D printers.

The 3D-printed rib made of PCU possesses the necessary stiffness and fit for insertion directly into the chest cavity.

Doriat, Clemens, Dr.

Qualitätsmanagement

Qualitätssicherung Kunststoff

Qualitätssicherung

Bone Implants Straight from  the Hospital’s Printer

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

Injection is the process step in injection molding that is most quality critical. The injection speed profile and its reproducibility have a direct influence on the internal and external properties of a part. The adjustment of the injection step is therefore of particular importance. Engel injection-molding machines with electrical injection units now feature optimized setpoint computation of this profile, with clear visualization, which increases the process transparency and ease of operation. 

Improved Setpoint Calculation of the Injection Speed Profile 

Automatisierungstechnik

Industrie 4.0

Industrieroboter

Rückverfolgbarkeit, Traceability

Dynamic Injection ¿ Made Easy 

In order to qualify new materials for different 3D printing technologies, the company offers manufacturers of 3D printers and system providers an open materials platform. 

Henkel Wants to Qualify New Materials 

Open Materials Platform for 3D Printing 

Ford has selected desktop 3D printers to create various assembly tools, and can now produce jigs and fixtures, and even in highly complex designs, in-house at low cost. Ultimaker¿s open filament system enables the automaker to create parts with various filaments from a range of material manufacturers and meet specific material properties exactly. 

Ford Uses Additive Manufacturing with FDM Technology for Producing Assembly Tools in its Automotive Production 

Kunststoff-Halbzeuge

Printed Tools for High-Volume Production  

On the last day of the Rapid + TCT, the leading trade fair for additive manufacturing in the USA, the German machine manufacturer Arburg was honoured with the People¿s Choice Award.  

Rapid + TCT 2019: Great Success for German Machine Manufacturer 

Arburg Wins People¿s Choice Award 

Bavarian Minister of Science Bernd Sibler handing the notification of funding for the ¿FAB-Weld¿ research project to FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, FIT and other partners  

¿FAB-Weld¿ Research Project to Investigate Welding Processes 

Selektives Lasersintern von Kunststoff, Metall, Keramik

Vibrationsschweißen

Technik Trend

kunststoffe-international.com

Connecting SLS Parts to Injection Molded Components 

3D Printing technology may lend a hand in preventing the spread of the Coronavirus. 

Hands Free Door Opener from Materialise 

3D Printing Helps Contain the Coronavirus 

Friday, 6 March 2020 marked the opening ceremony of Arburg¿s new Training Center measuring 13,700 square metres at the company¿s headquarters in Lossburg.  

More Space, More Digitalisation, More Focus On Customers 

New Arburg Training Center 

What AM technology is considered capable of today and how it can be applied in many areas of application is shown (representative) by this expert’s view of medical technology.

To enhance the mobility of the spine, the upper and lower shell of this disc prosthesis are connected with an elastic double spring made of titanium. The core also contains a cushioning silicone filling. The prosthesis can be manufactured according to the patient’s anatomy using the LaserCusing process 

Status and Perspectives for Human Medicine

Anlagen Additive Fertigung / 3D-Druck, Metall

Medical Applications of Additive Manufacturing

Marbling is often a real eye-catcher in plastic components. However, the effect is difficult to create and there are some pitfalls when it comes to reproducibility. Novel nozzles for injection molding machines in combination with a special dosing technology allow marbled molded parts to be produced far more easily in a much more robust process.

Marbling leads to attractively designed molded plastic parts, but is not so easy to implement in production

A 3D-Printed Nozzle and Modified Dosing Method Deliver Reproducible Marbling  in a Robust Process

Spritzgießwerkzeuge

Werkzeuge für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Kunststoffe

Photonik

Optik

Dienstleistungen

Werkzeug-, Formen- und Modellbau

Farben, flüssig

Additive

Exciting Design instead of  Exciting Manufacturing

Hybrid production chains have been increasingly in the spotlight in recent years. This also applies to the combination of conventional manufacturing and additive processes in tool construction. With the example of an injection molding tool, it is shown how mold inserts produced by additive manufacturing can greatly shorten cycle times, and thereby significantly reduce unit costs. The important thing is to find a suitable combination of processes from the variety available.

Tool insert for a spacer of a glass fiber-reinforced PA66. The example shows that hybrid manufacturing is suitable and provides added value, even with comparatively simple parts

Additive Manufacturing and Hybrid Molds in Combination with Conventional Machining

HSC- / HPC-Bearbeitung

Spanende Verfahren

Werkzeugkonstruktion

The Potential of Redesign and  Part Consolidation

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

Sensoren

Logistik

Lagertechnik

issue 04/2023

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