Polymaker will offer the Polymaker PC-r 3D printing filament made from recycled polycarbonate (PC). The PC for the filaments comes from materials supplier Covestro and consists of a combination of recycled plastic waste and virgin material.

The combination of recyclates and virgin material reduces the<sub> </sub>carbon footprint of the polycarbonate and still allows it to be extruded into filaments

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Technische Kunststoffe

Thermoplaste

Filamente für additive Verfahren

Andere Werkstoffe

Werkstoffe für additive Verfahren

Kunststoff

Bauwesen

Baustoffe

Additive Fertigung

Polycarbonat

Kunststoff-Rezyklat

Water Bottles Become Filaments

The MERCUR research project Pr-2017–0003 „Analysis of the product development process in the combination of additive and subtractive manufacturing processes for the manufacture of multi-material products“ combines different manufacturing and post-treatment processes to connect the respective advantages.

Verfahren für die additive Fertigung

Polyamide

Investigation of the influence of various post-treatment methods on the properties of additive manufactured FDM Nylon 12 samples

J850 TechStyle 3D printer enables haute couture and luxury brands to 3D print on fabric — achieving new levels of creativity in fashion and design.

SSYS 2Y22 design by Jasna Rokegem and Travis Fitch

16:9

3D-Drucker J850 TechStyle von Stratasys ermöglicht Haute-Couture- und Luxusmarken den 3D-Druck auf Stoff für äußerst kreative Mode und kreatives Design,

Textil-, Bekleidungs-, Ledergewerbe

Stratasys Introduces 3D Printer for Fashion Industry

Additive manufacturer Grafe has developed a new update for its matting agent in 3D printing.

Compared to its predecessor, the matting agent halves the gloss level once again. 

Farbstoffe und Pigmente

Additive

3D Printing with Less Gloss

Besides compounds modified for special applications and lightweight components, sustainable materials are also becoming an increasingly important focus. In the additives sector, too, recyclates, the circular economy, and reprocessing are now playing a key role.

Not only Polymers but also Additives and Masterbatches Must Be Sustainable

Zubehör / Hilfsmittel Wärmebehandlung

Wärmebehandlung

Compound

PVC-Additive

Masterbatches

Vernetzungsmittel

Compoundeure

Dienstleistungen

Handel

PVC-weich (Compounds)

Farbkonzentrate (Batches)

Farbstoffe

Verarbeitungshilfsmittel, allgemein

Flammhemmende Mittel, allgemein

Betriebsausrüstung / Betriebsmittel

Verarbeitungshilfmittel

Flammschutzmittel

Gleitmittel für Kunststoff

Attention to Detail

New developments by the raw material producers are responding to current application trends. Requirements are changing due to the advent of networked and semi-automated electric vehicles and the different mobility infrastructure. Products for digitalization and energy and resource efficiency are also moving center stage.

New Mobility Forms and Digitalization Are Shaping the Development of Engineering and High-Performance Plastics

Polyetherketon

Polyacrylate

Oberflächenbeschichtung

Holz

Anlagen Additive Fertigung / 3D-Druck, Kunststoff

Anlagen für die Additive Fertigung

Hybridwerkstoffe

Polyacetale

Verbundwerkstoffe / Werkstoffverbunde

Oberflächentechnik

Oberflächenveredelung

Lohnfertigung

Technology Made Easy

Paint bucket or A-pillar finisher? In our thoughts and attribution of value, packaging items and high-tech components often represent opposites. Yet the two can complement one another – when you look at used packaging as a valuable raw material. At the fair, KraussMaffei will be showing the concept for a closed material cycle and is making plastics processing sustainable through this.

First a bucket or another plastic product, then raw material for further processing: the shredded post-industrial material

At the K, KraussMaffei Will Be Showing the Cycle from Product to Upcycling  to a New Product

Spritzgießen

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Verfahren

Messe K-Kunststoffmesse

kunststoffe-international.com

Smart Factory

Energieeffizienz

Steuern, Regeln

Software

Folientechnik (IMD, IML, FIM, u.a.)

Digitale Transformation

Wirtschaft

Innovationen und neue Technologie

Laserbeschriftung

Laserbearbeitungen

Rückverfolgbarkeit, Traceability

Qualitätsmanagement

Handling, Handhabungstechnik

Automatisierungstechnik

Nachhaltigkeit

Umweltmanagement

Zerkleinerungsmaschinen

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Maschinen und Komponenten

Greifer für die Kunststofftechnik

Spritzgießmaschinen

Compoundieren

Kunststoff-Aufbereitung

Today Packaging,  Tomorrow Raw Material

The machine manufacturer Arburg has introduced an operating example of a digitalized AM-factory (additive manufacturing) at Hannover Messe 2019 (Hanover Fair). A turnkey system will functionalize vacuum grippers in six different versions "on demand" ¿ fully automated and 100 percent traceable. The new ATCM Scada-System simultaneously collects, visualizes, and transmits the relevant processing data. 

Fully Automated Traceable Additive Manufacturing of Small Batches and Single-Unit Parts 

Industrie 4.0

Industrieroboter

Gripper Variants According to  Customer Requirements 

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 

Dynamic Injection ¿ Made Easy 

Students of the ETH project Dyana are fusing animation and robotics together to create a cat-like character with realistic movements. To manufacture their intricate prototype, Andrina Grimm and her team also rely on Sintratec’s 3D printing technology.

Andrina Grimm and her team are developing a cat-like robot named Dyana

Montagetechnik

Bringing Robots to Life with 3D Printing

The use of recyclates confronts companies with new requirements in the processing, bonding, printing and labeling of materials and components. Atmospheric plasma technology, in which Plasmatreat GmbH has specialized, has established itself as a key technology: it often makes the use of recycled plastics possible in the first place – and also proves to be the means of choice on the way to more environmentally friendly, more resource-efficient production processes.

When using Openair-Plasma, the plasma jet works in a location-selective manner and follows the component geometry with millimeter precision. During the plasma treatment, very little heat is generated, so that the treated components remain dimensionally stable.

Atmospheric Plasma Technology as the Key to More Resource Conservation

Bedrucken

Chemisches Bearbeiten (Auftragen)

Plasmabehandlung

Reinigen und Vorbehandeln

Kreislaufwirtschaft

Improved Processing of Recyclates

The availability of PET bottle flake outside the beverage sector is expected to decline continuously in the coming years. Tray-to-tray recycling can close this gap and succeeds particularly easily with a new extruder.

MRS extruder screw with multi-rotation section for efficient degassing and decontamination

Polyester

Blasfolienextrusion

Flachfolien- und Plattenextrusion

Extrusion

Standardkunststoffe

Polyethylenterephthalat

Folien

Halbzeuge und Zwischenprodukte

Kunststoff-Halbzeuge

Kunststoff-Recycling

Unique PET Tray-to-Tray Recycling in a Single Extrusion Step

The Danish company Plastix recycles old fishing nets and ropes. The granules produced are used by JSP International, among others, to manufacture expanded polypropylene (EPP).

11 % of the plastic waste in the sea comes from the maritime industry. For the recycling of old fishing nets and ropes, accurate sorting is very important

Expanded Polypropylene from Maritime Plastic Waste

Schaumstoffe und Vorprodukte

Schaumstoffe

Recycling

Polypropylen-Compound

Polypropylen

From Fishing Net to Particle Foam

Process technologies for manufacturing multilayer and multicomponent products offer great potential for using reprocessed plastic wastes even for plastic parts that are subject to strict requirements for surface quality, product protection or consumer safety. The key: to place the recycled material in the interior while the surface is made of virgin material. Engel has developed a variant of sandwich injection molding that allows high proportions of recycled material to be used even with complex part geometries.

The sandwich technology (skinmelt) hides the recycled material beneath a virgin material surface – for example in the transport boxes

Engel’s skinmelt Sandwich Process Paves the Way for Increased Use of Recycled Material

Werkstoffprüfung

Messtechnik

Co-Injektion (Barriere-/Sandwich-Spritzgießen)

Recycling that Gets under the Skin

Smart assistance systems are paving the way for self-optimizing production. Automatic correction of quality-relevant parameters is already reality for individual phases of the injection molding process. At K 2019, Engel presented the iQ weight control with the example of a recyclate application for the first time.

With the manufacture of thin-walled sample parts, Engel presented the  iQ weight control smart assistance system at K 2019, with a recyclate application for the first time

The iQ weight control Assistance System Ensures Higher Process Stability

Werkzeuginnendrucksensoren

Sensoren / Messwertaufnehmer

Industrie 4.0 für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Messgeräte für Viskosität

Opening up a Broader Range of Applications for Recyclates

Recycled Hospital Waste as Raw Material for 3D-Printed Furniture

Robotics meets additive manufacturing: when Kuka robots produce furniture, they do not take work away from carpenters by any means. The chair and bench modules made of recycled hospital waste, named Twine – designed by HagenHinderdael in London – are a novelty in the world of furniture, engineering, and recycling.

The HagenHinderdael design studio was founded by Sofia Hagen and Lisa Hinderdael in 2020. “We combine product design with art to create sculptural products and immersive installations, working at the touch point between sustainable design and innovative technology,” is how the two architects and designers describe their creative approach. Hinderdael is from Belgium, Hagen from Austria – and both have enjoyed success in international settings.

Twine – urban furniture for public spaces – was designed for the third edition of the “Guiltless Plastic” campaign. It is curated by Milan’s gallery owner Rossana Orlandi, regularly prompting artists and designers to exhibit their projects to address plastic waste. “So we invented Twine. Our furniture had to be playful, comfortable and durable, and we wanted to use the filaments from Reflow for production using 3D printing,” is how Sofia Hagen describes the original project idea. Reflow, an award-winning social enterprise in Amsterdam dedicated to the fight against environmental pollution with plastic waste, obtains its materials for additive manufacturing from recycled waste plastic. The raw material for the functional, modular furniture elements is a rPET-G filament (recycled polyethylene terephthalatemodified with glycol) made of discarded, thermoformed medical bowls.

Delivering Durability and Aesthetics – without Lifting a Finger

The Twine modules are 1.06 m long, 50 cm high and 30 or 45 cm wide. The design alone was crowned as the finalist for the RO Plastic Prize 2021. Winning this prize for objects made of recycled plastic makes headlines across Europe. Therefore, a Twine seat was sent to the exhibition in Milan as part of the competition. HagenHinderdael engaged Ai Build in London, which has already done a lot of work with Reflow filaments, to produce this and another piece of furniture.

Ai Build is a SaaS (Software as a Service) business founded in 2015, “currently employing 20 people and five Kuka robots” as Chief Operating Officer Michail Desyllas describes it. The team mainly works for tier one companies in the aviation, automobile, marine, and energy industries. But more and more architects and designers are interested in the offers as well. Desyllas reports: “The geometry of the components and the desired aesthetic finishing were the greatest challenges in this special project. We were not allowed to change anything.”

Ai Build decided that two robots, a KR30 L16 of the KR Iontec series and a KR90 R2700 of the KR Quantec series, would do the job “because these robots have the range required to make such parts. They also have our software fully integrated, allowing us to monitor the quality and report defects in real time,” says Michail Desyllas.

Less than two weeks elapsed from the order to the finished furniture. Since Twine is intended to flow like waves, Ai Build constructed a special mold, a sort of curved double bed, on which the hot material from the 3D printer was allowed to cool and solidify. The narrower elements were made by the KR30 L16, the wider ones by the KR90 R2700. Each robot was equipped with a filament extruder system (model: Ai Maker).

This system can transport up to four filament flows in different colors, supporting a rich play of colors and transparency gradients within the elements. Desyllas grants that the application of the rPET-G filament was tricky: “Each layer has to be applied within a certain window. Not directly after the previous layer, to prevent sagging, but not too late either, otherwise the layers may not adhere to each other.” According to the data sheet provided by the manufacturer (Reflow), the filament is processed at a nozzle temperature of 210 °C and a print bed temperature of 75 °C – with a printing width of 6 mm, a layer thickness of 3 mm (outer surface) or 1.5 mm (ribbing) and a printing speed of 18 mm/s (outer surface) or 25 mm/s (ribbing).

Aesthetic, robust, and comfortable seating furniture was designed thanks to good preparation and the accurateness of the robots. “Every Twine element passed the quality check executed by our software and the always vigilant eye of the camera system on our robots,” Desyllas says. The AiSync software supports dynamic, multi-axis motion control of the print head with fully automated trajectory generation, along with process control and workflow monitoring for industrial 3D large format printing based on FFF (Fused Filament Fabrication).

Sofia Hagen and Lisa Hinderdael also liked the result. They sent Twine to Milan, where it captured many hearts although failing to win a prize. At the end of September, the furniture became part of the “Planted” show in the course of the London Design Festival. In the future, the Twine seating elements will be customized and produced by the Italian Kuka partner Caracol AM.

Kuka Deutschland GmbH  

https://www.kuka.com

Ausgabenartikel

Designers Lisa Hinderdael (left) and Sofia Hagen present a better side of plastic waste. The KR Quantec used to print the larger Twine elements is in the background.

The AiSync software of the Kuka system partner Ai Build supports dynamic, multi-axis motion control for industrial 3D large format printing. 

The seating modules are produced in two widths from recycled PET-G filaments using additive manufacturing.

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The project was realized in cooperation between the HagenHinderdael creative studio, the sustainable materials supplier Reflow and Ai Build, a company that develops software and artificial intelligence, among other things for applications with Kuka robots: <a href="https://reflowfilament.com">https://reflowfilament.com</a>