Materialise
Materialise Bluesint PA12
Materialise has launched a more sustainable 3D printing service based on its Bluesint PA 12 technology.
The Belgian additive manufacturing company first announced the selective laser sintering breakthrough last year which makes it possible to 3D print with up to 100% re-used powder. Commenting on the availability of this new Bluesint PA 12 service, Jurgen Laudus, Vice President and General Manager of Materialise Manufacturing said “it is vital that our industry continues to invest in new ways to make the 3D printing process itself more sustainable.”
According to Materialise, in typical SLS operations, up to 70% of powder is down-cycled or becomes waste. Bluesint PA 12 is said to significantly reduce that powder waste and also presents an opportunity to reduce CO2 emissions from powder production by around 30%. Materialise proposes that if half of all SLS PA 12 parts were printed using Bluesint PA 12, this would reduce CO2 emissions from 3D printing by more than 2,800 tons per year.
“We expect many of our customers will choose to use the Bluesint PA 12 service for functional prototype printing”, said Laudus. “Typically, 3D printed prototypes have short lifespans because they are only used in the validation phase, creating a need for a more sustainable solution in this part of the product development process. Bluesint PA 12 allows for sustainable development of prototypes with functional and mechanical properties comparable to the end part.”
Read more: Materialise goes green with Bluesint 3D printing
The launch of the service follows an extensive beta program with selected customers including the Maggie Program, a Belgium-based non-profit organisation that builds multi-functional shelters for local communities.
“We rely on the flexibility of 3D printing to address some of the manufacturing challenges we faced for the production of certain parts of our shelters”, says Benjamin Denef, CEO and Founder of Maggie Program vzw and DMOA architects. “With Bluesint PA 12, Materialise now gives us the possibility to manufacture these parts in a more sustainable way with similar mechanical properties. We are always looking for new ways to reduce our environmental footprint and Bluesint PA 12 allows us to make a manufacturing choice not only based on technical specifications but also on the environmental impact.”
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