HP Announces New 3D Printer, Collaboration with Dassault

HP’s new Jet Fusion 300 / 500 3D printing solution for functional prototyping and short run production. (Image courtesy of HP.)

HP Inc. is expanding its 3D printing portfolio with the introduction of the new Jet Fusion 300/500 series of 3D printers, designed to enable manufacturers to produce engineering-grade, functional parts in full color, black or white in a fraction of the time of other solutions.

Depending on configuration and color preference, the Jet Fusion 300/500 series is available starting in the $50,000s USD, enabling small-to medium-sized product development teams and design businesses, entrepreneurs, and universities and research institutions to access HP’s Multi Jet Fusion printing technology.

Jet Fusion for Prototyping and Short Runs

The new Jet Fusion 300/500 series is intended to complement HP's existing industrial-grade Jet Fusion 3200/4200/4210 3D printers which are designed for manufacturing environments. With this portfolio expansion, HP is providing users of its Multi Jet Fusion solutions the ability to produce prototypes and short runs on the same platform.

In addition to providing what HP calls “voxel-level control,” the new Jet Fusion 300/500 series was created with a compact design, enhanced workflow solution and a new integrated and automated materials delivery system, enabling greater unattended operation, ease of use, and increasing production efficiency and output.

“We’re offering a voxel-level 3D printing technology,” said Stephen Nigro, President of HP’s 3D Printing Business. “Being able to create functional voxel parts at high speed that are mechanically robust, this is the only technology that can do that.”

The Jet Fusion 300/500 series supports the three leading colorfile formats (OBJ, VRML, and 3MF). The series offerings include:

HP Jet Fusion 340 (Black and White) / 380 (Color): 7.5in x 10in x 9.8in build volume for users with smaller part-size needs or who commonly print fewer parts per build.
HP Jet Fusion 540 (Black and White) / 580 (Color): 7.5in x 13.1in x 98.in build volume for users with larger part-size needs or heavier production demands.

New Jet Fusion Material

HP’s new 3D printers will launch with a new material, HP 3D High Reusability CB PA 12. Parts using this material will have mechanical properties similar to the HP 3D High Reusability PA 12 material from HP’s industrial solutions. The Jet Fusion 300/500 series will ultimately support similar materials as the Jet Fusion 3200/4200/4210, as well as other unique materials.

HP & Dassault Collaboration

HP has also unveiled a new collaboration with Dassault Systèmes, with the goal of empowering a new era of product design innovation by entrepreneurs, makers, students and businesses. The two companies intend to optimize Dassault Systèmes’ SOLIDWORKS 3D design and engineering applications to take advantage of the unique capabilities of HP’s Multi Jet Fusion 3D printing solutions.

This full color model is a heart of a young girl named Jemma with a complex heart defect; the heart was printed using HP’s new Jet Fusion 300 / 500 3D printer to help surgeons at Phoenix Children’s Hospital prepare, select the best surgical path and explain the procedure to Jemma’s family. (Image courtesy of HP. Data courtesy of Phoenix Children's Hospital; Heart of Jemma.)

“Once you have voxel-level capabilities, you need the tools to take advantage of that,” said Nigro. “That’s exactly what we’re going to be working on with Dassault’s SOLIDWORKS.”

For more on HP’s rise in additive manufacturing, check out HP and Deloitte Join Forces for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.