3D technology is one of the most resourceful manufacturing methods used when turning ideas into reality. Ford, CCM, Volvo and BMW are some of the world's top companies utilizing 3D printing, creating prototypes for parts, tooling and even inner structures of helmets. All started out as an idea and formed into a 3D object.
Part Two:
On the premise, here at Cyb Llings Inc., we have two types of technologies: the FDM and the PolyJet. As we touched on the FDM already before, we move to the PolyJet, which has some of its own unique features. The PolyJet Connex 500 is a powerful 3D printing technology that produces smooth, accurate parts, tooling and prototypes. With microscopic layer resolution and accuracy down to 30 to 60 microns, it can produce complex geometries using the widest range of materials available. It offers astonishing levels of detail and final product realism. Multiple PolyJet materials can even be melded into one application.
Looking for a prototype with real life features; weight, feel and look?
You’re in the right spot. The materials used are plastic and rubber-like; VeroClear, VeroBlackPlus, VeroWhitePlus, TangoBlackPlus, TangoPlus, Tango, Rigur and ABS-like materials. The PolyJet material starts in liquid form and is ejected from the print head, which slides back and forth to deposit a single ultra-thin layer of material onto the build tray.
VeroClear is a translucent material. This material is often used for smooth and precise prototypes but can also be suitable for end-use products. VeroClear has strength, stiffness, impact resistance, and can also be mixed with other materials. Due to its many excellent properties, the material is also water-resistant but not waterproof, so it cannot rest in the water for a long time. Moreover, when it comes to heat resistance, the material will deform significantly under heat above 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
VeroBlackPlus and VeroWhitePlus are hard opaque materials that can simulate the appearance of production parts, and have both stability and excellent fine feature details. These materials are used for moving and assembling parts, manufacturing tooling, silicone molding, highly accurate presentation models and fit and function testing. These materials are similar to VeroClear and can also be mixed with other materials.
Next, rubber-like material; Tango, TangoBlackPlus and TangoPlus have similar properties, but the hardness ranges from 27 to 95 Shore value, elongation and tear resistance are different. TangoBlackPlus, TangoPlus and Tango materials are ideal for testing and verifying visual and functional applications. They can simulate real applications such as grips, footwear and/or steering wheels. These materials produce soft, non-slip and flexible prototypes. These materials are unique in that they can also be mixed with other materials and can be used as rubber overmolding in a single structure.
Rigur is an advanced simulated polypropylene material that offers durability and a beautiful surface finish. Use it to build robust prototypes for snap-fit components, living hinges and other demanding applications. Rigur is an office-friendly material designed to provide reliable performance and dimensionally stable prototypes. It comes in a bright, true white with PolyJet technology’s fine resolution and smooth curves. For added versatility, other materials can be combined with Rigur to produce a range of grayscale shades and Shore A values.
Finally, ABS-like materials are true production-grade thermoplastics. A unique feature is that this material has a high heat deflection temperature yet is flexible and durable enough to perform virtually the same as production parts. Also, ABS-like material can be used for injection molds. This material improves thermal and mechanical performance of prototypes and parts for functional performance testing. This material can create snap-fit parts for high or low temperatures, electrical parts, casings, mobile phone casings, engine parts or covers, molds, and/or functional prototypes.
PolyJet technology may be the answer to your ideas.
Cyb Llings Inc. is ready to take action with you.
Ideas are just thoughts until action is taken place and causes those ideas to transform into reality. What if you are a toy designer, an auto part manufacturer, or even in the industry to create PPE for healthcare workers. All these industries share similar requirements, first they need an idea but then need the proper resources to take action. Those resources could be the people, the equipment and/or the materials. Here at Cyb Llings Inc. we have the people, equipment and the materials.
Part One:
One of the prominent 3D Printer technologies that are on the premise, here at Cyb Llings Inc., is the Stratasys brand Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM). This technology has unique features to it when it comes to the composition of its materials. The FDM technology uses a coil of plastic filament that is fed up to a heated head and extruded out one layer at a time.
The FDM utilizes strong, engineering-grade materials like ABS, PC-ABS and ULTEM 9085 resin. FDM can create functional prototypes and production parts with an outstanding thermal and chemical resistance and excellent strength to weight ratios. These materials are ready for harsh environments and tough testing; the ABS is best fitting for applications requiring good strength and sterilization, the PC-ABS material is one of the most widely used industrial thermoplastics and the ULTEM 9085 resin is ideal for extensive, more stringent test criteria required by the aerospace, automotive industries, the military and other regulatory agencies.
More in-depth, the ABS is a versatile material, it is good for form, fit and functional applications. It is widely used for auto parts, consumer products, pipe fittings, toys, and much more. Next, the PC-ABS, a true industrial thermoplastic, combines the most desirable properties of both materials; excellent features of ABS and the superior mechanical properties and heat resistance of polycarbonate. This being said, it is commonly used in automotive, electronics and telecommunications applications. An additional feature of PC-ABS material is how pliable it is, it can be formed at room temperature without cracking or breaking. Lastly, ULTEM 9085 resin is a flame, smoke and toxicity-certified thermoplastic. It features excellent heat resistance and high impact strength. Typically, this material is used for applications like advanced prototyping, manufacturing tooling and low/high volume production.
If you are ready to transform your thoughts to a 3D object in hand, invest in the proper materials. Cyb Llings Inc. is ready to take action with you.
Stay tuned for upcoming blogs about other 3D technologies, focusing on other materials and equipment that Cyb Llings Inc. offers.
FDM, fused deposition modeling, is an additive manufacturing process that creates three- dimensional objects by depositing plastic materials in layers. Unlike traditional subtractive manufacturing (machining) which removes material, additive manufacturing adds material through extruding thermoplastics. As a result, this reduces waste and allows businesses to produce parts faster and at a lower cost than traditional subtractive techniques. FDM printers are becoming very common in the workplace with desktop versions and commercial versions. The desktop printers are great for hobbyist and personal use. The commercial printers give the users more material options, larger build envelopes and higher quality parts with multiple layer thickness options. Cyb Llings uses Stratasys 400mc and 450mc FDM printers which are commercial grade printers to print parts for our customers.
The FDM process is best described by drawing a similarity to how a hot glue gun functions. A solid monofilament line of plastic is fed into a print head where it is melted and then extruded along a path on the build tray layer by layer following the part profile to build a part.
To prepare the print data, a CAD file is created by the engineer/designer for the desired part and is converted into a STL file format for the 3D printer software to read. The 3D printer software then slices the STL file into layers and creates sliced profiles used to create extrusion paths for the print heads to follow. This software used for the FDM printer provides options to change the fill the interior cavities on the part. The three options are sparse fill (honey comb), double density (honey comb with thicker walls) and a solid fill. Once the print data is prepared, the plastic filament line is fed into a heated print head then extruded out into the heated build chamber. The print head is mounted on the two axis (x-y plane) gantry systems that outline the part. The print tips can also be changed to switch the layer of thickness. The smaller the print head, the more finer features on a part and it provides a smoother surface finish. The build chamber is heated to stabilize the material as it is being printed, preventing warpage and delamination. The heated material is then placed on the build tray along the printing path that forms the contour of the part. The build tray moves in the z-axis and lowers as each layer is placed onto the part outlined. The amount of time it takes for each part to be built depends on a few things, fill volume, model complexity, print head size, model size, and the amount of support material required. There are two materials that are required for a part, the plastic filament and support material. The plastic filament has a variety of types of plastics (ABS-M30, ABS-M30i, PC-ABS, and ULTEM 9085). These materials are ideal for functional prototyping, manufacturing tools, end-use parts or concept models. Now, the support material is the foundation for the model and provides support for any cantilevered features. This support material is removed when the part is complete in the printer. There are two ways the support material can be removed, by breaking it away and/or dissolving it away in solvents.
The FDM additive manufacturing process creates high strength and durable parts, parts can withstand heat, it can be used in a variety of ways (functional parts, prototype parts or space claim models), it is typically cost-effective, and has a high turnaround rate compared to traditional manufacturing. The FDM process helps to make your ideas become reality.
PolyJet, material jetting, is an additive manufacturing process that produces high resolution parts, prototypes, and models using a liquid photopolymer material cured with UV lights. The PolyJet process can produce parts with thin walls, complex geometries and multiple model materials in a single build. The PolyJet technology is best described by drawing a similarity to the standard inkjet printing process, but instead of jetting ink on paper, a print head jets liquid photopolymers onto a build tray where each droplet is cured.
With any 3D Printing technology, you need to start with a 3D model in STL format from CAD software. It is recommended that you check your STL file before sending it to the slicing software to prevent errors such as reversed normal, bad edges, holes in the mesh and noise shells which could cause printing errors. After the errors in the STL file are removed or corrected, the printer specific software slices the file into cross-sections or thin layers and sends it to the 3D printer.
Before printing begins, photopolymer resin is poured into the material container and heated, this allows the material to reach the desired viscosity. The PolyJet printhead then deposits droplets of this material on the build platform, as mentioned above. The printer starts to construct the object one layer at a time from the bottom up.
PolyJet material properties vary, ranging from rigid to rubber-like. The materials used in our printers are plastic and rubber-like materials (TangoBlack, VeroClear, Rigur, and ABS Like). This technology can also mix multiple materials together to achieve unique material properties and colors. Since the PolyJet printer has the capability to blend materials it can print parts with rubber like materials, that have a Shore A Hardness value ranging from 27-95. This process can also do rubber over molding, which makes this technology unique to other 3D Printing technologies. PolyJet materials are best suited for applications where accuracy, surface finish, and detail are essential components of the printed part. The material is solidified by ultraviolet light which is attached to the print head and simultaneously cures the material as it is printed. Once a cross-section is completed, the build tray is lowered slightly to make room for the next layer. These layers are 16 or 30 microns thick and are accumulated on the build tray until the part is complete. As the part is being built, a gel-like, dissolvable support material is added to give strength to fine and overhanging structures. The support material is easily removed by hand, with pressurized water, and after that the part is immersed in a chemical solution dissolving the rest of the support material leaving a clear, smooth finish. The PolyJet process is ideal for fast, inexpensive and high-resolution parts, prototypes, and models that require excellent detail, accuracy and a smooth surface finish. With the PolyJet process, ideas become a reality.
By: Cyb Llings Inc.
The rapid growth of Covid-19 has put hard tension on many healthcare providers as they provide treatment and care to affected patients. Along with the stress of treating a disease with many unknowns, healthcare providers are also in an environment with a lack of personal protection equipment. Back in March, this pandemic called for the world to unite, for people to come forward to help one another and create a call of action.
3D printing companies were among many industries that joined the forces to ameliorate the tension of our healthcare providers.
How?
3D printing companies have the materials to help ease supply chain issues for critical care equipment, such as face mask respirators or “ear guards”. Cyb Llings Inc. 3D printing was among those companies that responded. Cyb Llings Inc. partnered with Star EMS and GoEngineer to convert snorkel masks into a respirator for the EMS at Star EMS in Pontiac, MI. The team of businesses collaborated on their CAD software, computer simulation, and 3D printers, which resulted in a prototype being developed in less than 24 hours. EMS at Star EMS used the face mask respirators while supplies were difficult to procure.
Here at Cyb Llings Inc. we acquired the knowledge of an “ear guard” design created by a Canadian Scout named Quinn. Cyb Llings Inc. followed suit and printed these ear guards here in Downtown Pontiac and donated them to local hospitals. The purpose of the ear guards is to provide healthcare workers that wear masks all day, more comfort, and eliminate pain behind their ears.
Even more than that, Cyb Llings Inc. is affiliated with FIRST Robotics and we donated PPE to families that are involved in the medical community. Also, Cyb Llings Inc. donated more PPE to Beaumont Hospital.
The pandemic has brought the world many challenges, and here at Cyb Llings Inc. we are taking on those challenges together with our community. If you have a need, together we can find a solution and we, the team at Cyb Llings Inc., can print the outcome. We appreciate our healthcare and essential workers.
