Carbon M2 3D printer inside the MTC's NCAM.
The UK’s National Centre for Additive Manufacturing inside the Manufacturing Technology Centre has taken delivery of a Carbon M2 3D printer, bolstering its polymer printing capabilities.
Based on the Silicon Valley company’s Digital Light Synthesis technology, which is already being employed by the likes of Adidas, Ford and Riddell, the M2 is a resin-based system capable of manufacturing functional end-use parts in a range of engineering-grade materials.
The installation sees the MTC certified as a Carbon Production Network Partner following recent work producing components in a variety of those materials. In a press release, the NCAM said these new material capabilities, which include engineering elastomers such as elastomeric polyurethane and silicone urethane, as well as two variants of engineering rigid polyurethane, will allow the centre to offer new high-performance components with high temperature resistance up to 230 degrees centigrade.
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Hoda Amel, senior research engineer at NCAM, said: “The Carbon DLS process will help enhance our polymer offerings, allowing customers a great variety of material choice and functional, aesthetic parts for their polymer additive manufacturing projects.”
Gary Miller, head of European partner and market development from Carbon, added: “The National Centre for Additive Manufacturing has been influential in inspiring British manufacturing. By leveraging the Carbon DLS process and engineering-grade materials, the MTC is well positioned to highlight the discovery of applications that outperform at every step, while reducing cost. Carbon is excited to partner with the MTC and we look forward to developing applications together that are suited for our production materials.”
The Carbon M2 joins a range of additive manufacturing technologies across polymers and metals already housed inside the MTC including systems from Trumpf, Renishaw, Nano Dimension, Digital Metal, and Stratasys. Most recently, the centre has been exploring 3D printing of ceramics with machines from XJet and Photocentric.
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