Evonik has partnered with NXT Factory to establish its Quantum Laser Sintering (QLS) on the market with a corresponding material portfolio.
It comes as NXT Factory announces the commercial availability of its QLS350 platform ahead of Formnext.
The strategic focus of Evonik and NXT Factory’s collaboration the development of ‘ready-to-use’ high-performance materials, with the chemical expert’s high-temperature PA 613 already scheduled for release on the QLS 350 in early 2020. NXT Factory is bringing to market its QLS technology to address the move from prototyping to low and medium volume production and can already support PA12 and PA6-6 powders.
With the QLS350 system now commercially available, the plan is to move quickly to expand the range of materials available to users. NXT Factory saw Evonik, with its wealth of expertise and experience in high-performance polymer powders, as a suitable partner to ensure that happens.
“We have applied all our mechanical engineering experience to the development of the new QLS technology in order to create a new category in industrial manufacturing,” said Kuba Graczyk, CEO of NXT Factory. “We are very excited to work with Evonik’s in-depth materials expertise to advance our technology together.”
“The new technology of NXT Factory offers further possibilities for our polymer formulations and is a perfect fit for our ready-to-use concept for strategic material development,” commented Thomas Große-Puppendahl, Head of the Additive Manufacturing growth field at Evonik. “It is our goal to provide new material systems in cooperation with customers and partners in order to further diversify the market for 3D printing materials and drive it towards serial production.”
NXT Factory will exhibit at Formnext alongside Nexa3D and ParaMatters, the trio all operating as start-ups under the XponentialWorks network. In Frankfurt, Nexa3D is to announce a nearly 25% increase in the size of NXE400’s build volume, from 16 to 19 litres, and the introduction of five new materials. These materials will include ABS plastics, high-temperature plastics and general purpose plastics developed for prototyping, tooling, and applications like dental moulds and aligners. ParaMatters, meanwhile, will introduce the latest update to its CogniCAD platform. CogniCAD 3.0 features one-click generative design for mechanical and thermal applications, new reverse engineering tools and algorithmically optimised part orientation.
XponentialWorks will showcase NXT Factory, Nexa3D and ParaMatters in Hall 11.0, Stand B21 between November 19-22. Evonik will be located in Hall 12.1, Stand C71.
Formnext takes place in Frankfurt on 19-22 November. Register for your showfloor ticket here and visit the TCT @ Formnext Conference website to register for your conference pass.