Arburg highlights its Freeformer range at Formnext Connect

The Arburg Plastic Freeforming (APF) process with the Freeformer is predestined for medical technology, the processing of soft materials and PP, as well as for the additive manufacturing of multi-component parts.

High-temperature plastics can also be processed using the open system. All these special capabilities will be shown by Arburg during Formnext Connect 2020. In addition, Arburg will present the integration of the Freeformer into the digital customer portal arburgXworld.

The Freeformer in sizes 200-3X and 300-3X process plastic granulates of the kind also used in injection moulding. This makes the open systems very economical and also enables a big variety of materials to be used. This also makes it possible to process bio-compatible, absorbable and sterilisable as well as FDA-approved original materials to be used. This in turn opens the door to new possibilities, also for human applications.

Lukas Pawelczyk, Head of Freeformer Sales at Arburg, said: “In medical technology, we can also accomplish very demanding applications with the AKF process that other processes simply cannot handle.”

For example, Pawelczyk listed absorbable implants. As well as Resomer Composite LR 706 S ß-TCP, a product similar to human bone that promotes bone formation, the Freeformer was recently used to process another innovative material from Evonik: The polymer from the Resomer-C family is used in the soft tissue sector.

With the additive AKF process, it is possible to produce parts from soft materials in virtually all Shore hardnesses.

In relation to mechanical load-bearing capacity, recoil characteristics, UV stability and endurance strength, these parts share almost the same properties as injection moulded parts. With the slicing parameters, various material densities can be achieved within a part.

During the digital event, Arburg does will present automotive parts, footwear applications, and the production of a functional part made of semi-crystalline PP and flexible TPE as a classic hard/soft-combination, as well as medical and technical parts from high-temperature plastics.