Azul 3D
azul ocean - 1
Azul 3D has launched its OCEAN 3D printing platform, its largest and most productive 'area-wide 3D printing' solution yet.
The company previously launched its LAKE machine in September 2021, with that machine featuring a 254 x 305 x 610 mm build volume. OCEAN is being brought to market with a 812 x 812 mm build volume, with the company hoping to open up higher volume applications.
Backed by DuPont - who installed a LAKE machine in April 2022 - Azul 3D has developed a proprietary and modular 3D printing technology called HARP: High Area Rapid Printing. This technology employs a liquid interface that remains molecularly flat across the entire build area during printing, enabling high precision and ensuring thermal consistency through the removal of heat from the curing reaction. A modular optical engine also helps to maintain the full 72um high resolution and intensity digital light processing (DLP) projection of the LAKE machine.
“Our strategy is to empower the future of digital manufacturing,” said John Hartner, CEO of Azul 3D. “The OCEAN platform is a new-to-industry capability, with the opportunity to enable new high-volume products and supply chains.”
With the ability to produce ultra-fine features and harness build speeds of over 300 mm per hour, Azul 3D believes the OCEAN printer represents a 'new economic paradigm for polymer production.' In the clean tech sector, for example, its printed structures are said to offer 'exciting new engineering possibilities' to improve performance of large-scale filters and membranes for carbon capture and water treatment.
Azul 3D has also confirmed it is working in collaboration with Dr. Devin Roach at Oregon State University to investigate and test the application of functional coatings to printed surfaces, including novel carbon-sorbent materials pioneered by the Nyman research group at Oregon State.
