EnvisionTEC has long been established as the leading maker of industrial digital light processing (DLP) 3D printers, but the firm started to evolve that technology recently with its newer 3SP line. Though these machines are described as providing a larger build volume than their traditional DLP systems while maintaining speed and resolution, the materials portfolio for the 3SP series is far less extensive. That may change, however. EnvisionTEC has initiated a partnership with Royal DSM, a leading manufacturer of photopolymer resins, to extend its photopolymer range.
EnvisionTEC’s 3SP technology projects a laser onto a spinning orthogonal mirror, allowing for rapid high-resolution curing of photopolymer resin, even at large volumes. (Image courtesy of EnvisionTEC/YouTube.)
Unlike DLP printers, which rely on a DLP projector, a 3SP machine shines a multi-cavity laser diode onto a spinning orthogonal mirror to harden UV-curable resin into a 3D object. Not only does this allow the machine to use the Scan, Spin, and Selectively Photocure acronym of its namesake, it also gives a 3SP system the ability to produce large parts quickly, with high resolution. So far, the materials portfolio for the 3SP line is limited to 10 types of photopolymer resins; four are variations of materials modeled after acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). By partnering with DSM, the firm hopes to eventually expand this collection.
DSM is a Dutch multinational whose Somos brand of photopolymers is best known in the 3D printing community for use with stereolithography machines from 3D Systems, one of the two largest 3D printer manufacturers in the industry. While Somos still produces materials that can be used with 3D Systems’ old systems, 3D Systems has since implemented proprietary controls on their 3D printing resins, limiting users to the company’s own materials. What may be bad news for 3D Systems customers has resulted in good news for EnvisionTEC, since Somos develops materials compatible with their 3SP printers. These include a number of hybrid resins, such as epoxy and acrylate materials.
The collaboration was announced last September, but at the Additive Manufacturing Users Group Conference held April 3-7 in St. Louis, Mo., the partners announced that they had moved into the beta phase after a successful round of alpha testing. Details about the specific nature of the materials being developed are still under wraps, but Somos and EnvisionTEC describe them as “high performance” and “durable, with high-detail resolution and dimensional stability.” Next, an unnamed key customer of EnvisionTEC will begin beta testing the material.
As important as 3D printing processes are to this growing industry, it is the materials themselves that will truly unlock the technology’s potential. The market research firm IDTechEx predicts that the 3D printing materials segment will be worth $8 billion by 2025, and believes that the materials will be more valuable as a market than the printers themselves.
Numerous industrial-grade materials used in the traditional manufacturing process have yet to be adapted to 3D printing; however, 3D printing allows for the mixing of materials in ways previously not thought possible. This could lead to the fabrication of objects with material properties that change throughout the process. A growing number of partnerships believe that large chemical companies moving into that space could unlock 3D printing’s full potential.
About the Author