3D Systems TCT Show 2019
Figure 4 Production Black 10 is just one of the Figure 4 materials 3D Systems will be releasing test data for.
3D Systems has today announced the availability of comprehensive test data for a number of its Figure 4 3D printing materials.
The news is said to provide increased transparency around material performance to allow engineers and manufacturers to make informed decisions about which materials are best suited to their application needs. The materials, which include the latest product-grade resins released for the Figure 4 platform, have been tested against ASTM and ISO standards for properties including long-term environmental stability, electrical data, UL94 flammability, biocompatibility, ISO mechanical properties, isotropic mechanical property tolerances, and compatibility with automotive fluids and chemical reagents.
“Until this point, materials testing data provided by the industry has been incomplete for production applications and of little value to engineers accustomed to data that accompanies injection moulded plastics,” said Marty Johnson, technical fellow, 3D Systems. “If an engineer is going to use any material for true production applications, they need a comprehensive set of data which meets industry standards in order to evaluate its efficacy. 3D Systems recognises how these standards help improve product quality, enhance safety, facilitate market access and trade, and build consumer confidence. Testing to both ASTM and ISO standards allows us to address a broad set of manufacturers worldwide and usher in the use of additive for true production.”
By providing customers with this data, 3D Systems says it will allow users to proceed to longer term application testing, such as life testing of parts, much more quickly. For example, the company says electrical life testing can take anywhere from 1,000-4,000 hours to complete. Having the knowledge of a material’s dielectric properties per industry standards readily available saves engineers from having to go through several rounds of testing before moving onto long term life testing.
Testing has been completed on the following materials: Figure 4 PRO-BLK 10, Figure 4 EGGSHELL-AMB 10, Figure 4 HI TEMP 300-AMB, Figure 4 FLEX-BLK 20, Figure 4 RUBBER-BLK 10, Figure 4 TOUGH-BLK 20, Figure 4 MED-AMB 10, and Figure 4 MED-WHT 10.
The data will be made available from March 23rd to coincide with the Additive Manufacturing Users Group Conference where 3D Systems will address the importance of comprehensive materials test data in a session titled, “The Industrialization of AM: High Speed Direct Production with Advanced Polymers”.
