How 3D printing is impacting manufacturing
Lu Rahman picks some of her favourite ways in which 3D printing is gaining ground in the manufacturing realm.
It’s no surprise that the size of the medical 3D printing market is considerable. According to Marketsandmarkets, the 3D printed medical devices market will be worth around $1.88 billion by 2020. Plastics manufacturers have long recognised the way this technology helps achieve faster throughput, an increasingly streamlined prototyping process, or bring manufacturing in-house for businesses that have been outsourcing this stage of the chain.
Advances in 3D printers are well documented. Faster part generation speeds, the ability to create larger parts and prototypes, as well as creating one-off tooling jobs, make it evident that the technology has become indispensable within manufacturing.
Joint praise
A recent collaboration between Intamsys and Sichuan Ju An Hui highlights this. Medical device company Sichuan Ju An Hu has developed the BioNEEK brace for use in a range of knee conditions. The company turned to Intamsys and its Funmat Pro HT printer citing its ability to create large-size PEEK parts. Also important was the speed with which the parts could be altered, given that many of the users required customisation to some degree. According to Intamsys, “the mechanical properties of PEEK parts printed on INTAMSYS printer can achieve 99.9 MPa in tensile strength and 3738 MPa in Young’s Modulus”. It claims that knee braces with PEEK as its main structure help prevent injury by giving users an additional layer of strength and protection. Foam padding is added to the brace to ensure comfortable wearing experience.
“With the outstanding mechanical strength and stiffness of PEEK coupled with the reliability of Intamsys 3D printing solution, Sichuan Ju An Hui is now able to swiftly customise according to customers’ sizes and produce BioNEEK that fit comfortably on the knees of each customer while delivering the industry-leading level of protection, made possible by 3D printed PEEK,” said Charles Han, CEO of Intamsys.
Material world
While the printers themselves pay a key role in the success of 3D printing in healthcare device manufacture, materials hold equal significance.
Recently MPN reported on the partnership between materials expert DSM, and Chromatic 3D Materials to introduce thermoset materials for this market.
“Additive manufacturing or 3D printing technology has the potential to fundamentally change the way products are manufactured – offering consumers personalised and customised products currently not feasible”, said Hugo da Silva, vice president of additive manufacturing at DSM.
“This requires that manufacturers have a choice of the best combination of material, printing process and software for their application needs. With this partnership with Chromatic, we can offer our customers industrial-grade thermosets currently not available for additive manufacturing.”
Chromatic 3D develops technologies to 3D print with thermosets, a broad class of materials offering adaptability, durability and resilience not possible with thermoplastics used in conventional 3D printing processes.
The two firms will jointly develop thermoset materials that DSM says its customers are looking for to 3D print end-use applications. While initial products to be rolled out by DSM include industrial-grade soft and durable thermosets, which are complementary to the firm’s current portfolio of thermoplastics for fused filament fabrication (FFF), the companies will also be building a broader portfolio based on customer needs in strategic markets including healthcare.
“Chromatic 3D Materials and DSM Additive Manufacturing have a shared vision to deliver high performance, industrial grade 3D printing solutions to manufacturing. Together, we will make the dreams of industrial implementation of 3D printing a reality”, said Cora Liebig, CEO of Chromatic.
Smiles apart
One medical device company putting 3D printing to the test, is Align Technology. An article in Forbes last year highlighted the business and its work. T J McCue reported that the company is creating its orthodontic aligners suing 3D printing technology.
“The part that impresses me is they have quietly built a factory of dozens of high end 3D printers,” says McCue adding, “it is one of the biggest, if not the largest dedicated 3D printing production spaces in existence today”.
It all sounds impressive, added to which McCue reveals: “To clarify – Align is not creating 220,000 standard products a day, but 220,000 custom-made products each day. Each clear aligner is completely different from the one lying next to it on the printer platform. That’s the truly mind-bending part. They have brought mass manufacturing methods to bear on an individually designed product.”
While case studies abound of the way 3D printing technology has been picked up by surgeons, this is a great example of the way that 3D printing has a role in the manufacturing space. And a highly effective and successful role too.