With its ultra-high-speed light-curing 3D printers and innovative materials, Carbon of the United States has made a lot of waves in the field of 3D printing. In the past, the materials used for their equipment were closed, and Carbon controlled everything from the machine to the maintenance to the technical data, but now this situation has changed.
On October 20, 2020, Carbon cooperated with chemical giant Henkel to introduce Henkel's Loctite resin into Carbon's Digital Light Synthesis (DLS) system. The first material introduced is Loctite 3D IND405 transparent resin, which is a tough and transparent material that can be used to make finished products and fixtures.
This type of photopolymer can meet the prototyping and general prototyping requirements of glass or packaging. At the same time, if toughness, elongation and durability can be maintained, it can open up new end-use parts. Light-curing technologies such as Carbon's DLS or SLA have always had problems in manufacturing end-use parts. With recent investments by materials companies, SLA and related technologies seem to be getting closer and closer to making products that can be used in the real world for a long time. At the same time, lower costs and higher availability should lead to more light curing production applications.
Of course, we must recognize the fact that these acrylics are thermoset materials and cannot be recycled in any meaningful way. In addition, thermoplastics used for material extrusion and powder bed melting are still relatively cheap, and light curing technology has a long way to go before these materials can be used to make large end-use parts. For objects such as personalized headsets, mass customization items and prototypes, these new developments can go a long way in some production applications (if relevant safety standards can be met). Because they use Carbon's technology, the size of the parts will be quite limited.
Dr. Simon Mawson, Henkel’s Senior Vice President and Head of 3D Printing, said when talking about the cooperation: “Henkel is a leading supplier of additive manufacturing single-component technology. Our expanded partnership with Carbon enables us to provide aerospace, Customers in the automotive, industrial and medical markets provide Loctite solutions. Together, we provide an efficient additive manufacturing workflow that facilitates the production of durable end parts."
"We believe that Loctite's single-component technology, coupled with the Carbon DLS process, provides a best-in-class solution that can achieve higher accuracy, better functions, and excellent economy, and can realize additive manufacturing to change the industry. The promise of manufacturing."
Dr. Jason Rolland, Senior Vice President of Materials, Carbon, said: "We are very pleased to work with Henkel to add this material to our resin portfolio. Our customers require us to provide a tough, durable, impact-resistant transparent Materials. Loctite 3D IND405 meets these needs and we are committed to continuing to provide product developers with the widest range of first-class materials."
This news means that except for companies such as Origin, Stratasys, RPS, and Kings and Crima, open materials seem to be more important than a few years ago. In terms of materials, competition seems to be more intense. Henkel, DSM, Arkema, and Sartomer have all introduced new high-performance resins formulated for specific end applications of open machines.
At the same time, desktop SLA equipment has exploded, and a lot of new work related to LEDs and other light sources is also going on. Light curing is booming, which was not something that any of us could feel ten years ago. The technology for making parts that are fragile, brittle, and not resistant to UV rays is now truly on track. Apart from the tens of millions of parts manufactured on the EnvisionTEC system and the continuous progress of Formlabs, what we really see is the gradual opening of the market. An open system can achieve lower prices and faster innovation.