Materials company Covestro and industrial 3D printer manufacturer voxeljet are collaborating to develop a material-machine combination for economical large-scale series additive manufacturing. With the help of high-speed sintering (HSS), voxeljet combines the advantages of two existing additive technologies: selective laser sintering and binder jetting, thus realizing the dual advantages of SLS part characteristics and binder jetting productivity.
After jointly developing and qualifying thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) powders for HSS, the two companies are taking their cooperation to a new level by providing customers with seamless material process solutions for mass manufacturing for their specific applications.
Geoff Gardner, Director of Additive Manufacturing Innovation at Covestro, said: “Usually, materials and processing technologies operate independently in the value chain, and customers must figure out how to make them work.” Together with voxeljet, we want to eliminate what we think is used in the production floor. Obstacles to AM. Due to its size and speed, coupled with a constant layer time, HSS provides manufacturers with an economical mass production solution. "
voxeljet will contribute its knowledge through its large-format VX1000 HSS printer platform VX1000 HSS and Covestro’s expertise in designing functional materials to develop seamless working material process solutions that can be used in mass manufacturing.
James Reeves, global director of voxeljet polymer sintering (HSS), added: "This is a competition between the two companies. They firmly believe in a truly close collaboration in the additive ecosystem. HSS has great potential for processing specialty powder materials. . By providing customers with material options, we accelerate their access to groundbreaking products."
The material possibility the company is considering is TPU, which is ideal for footwear and cushioning applications, as well as thermoplastic elastomers (TPE), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) and polypropylene (PP). The cooperation with voxeljet involves the expansion of new materials on the large industrial manufacturing machine VX1000HSS, which is currently accessible through voxeljet's Early Access Beta program.
If you are interested in participating in the program, please contact us-the two companies will showcase their polymer powder materials and printers at the Formnext 2021 Hall 12.1 in Frankfurt, Germany from November 16th to 19th; Covestro will be at booth C11 , Voxeljet is at booth C129.
About Covestro: Covestro is one of the world's leading polymer companies with sales of 10.7 billion euros in 2020. The focus of business activities is the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative and sustainable solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. In this process, Covestro is fully committed to the circular economy. The main industries served are the automotive and transportation industries, construction, furniture and wood processing, and the electrical, electronic and household appliances industries. Other industries include sports and leisure, cosmetics, health, and the chemical industry itself. By the end of 2020, Covestro has 33 production bases around the world, with approximately 16,500 employees (calculated as full-time employees).
Learn more about traditional DSM additive manufacturing at am.covestro.com and Covestro at www.covestro.com
Forward-looking statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on Covestro AG’s current assumptions and forecasts. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the company's actual future results, financial conditions, development or performance to be materially different from the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in the public report of Covestro available on www.covestro.com. The company assumes no responsibility for updating these forward-looking statements or making them consistent with future events or developments.
Voxeljet AG published this content on November 15, 2021, and is solely responsible for the information contained in it. Distributed by the public at 13:01:16, November 15, 2021, UTC time, unedited and unaltered.