US 3D printer OEM Carbon has launched EPU 46 — its latest elastomer materials. EPU 46 affords high-performance materials properties, superior sturdiness, and wealthy colour choices, facilitating customizable manufacturing of merchandise like saddles, footwear, and grips. 

Designed to fulfill various business calls for, EPU 46 improves efficiency, consolation, and aesthetics. Clients can fine-tune materials stiffness with out compromising printability or altering properties. EPU 46 aligns with Carbon’s sustainability efforts, that includes 40% bio-based supplies and minimizing waste by solvent-free spin cleansing and resin reclaim strategies. Increasing Carbon’s idea-to-production platform, it helps create novel, colourful merchandise with variable stiffness, says Carbon.

“EPU 46 is the way forward for elastomer customization, combining the advantages of efficiency, consolation, and sturdiness with the joy of customized colours and tunable materials stiffness,” stated Jason Rolland, SVP of Supplies at Carbon. “EPU 46 furthers our dedication to offering a sturdy and full idea-to-production platform that may be totally personalized to our shopper’s specs. That is actually the following step in our journey to creating something that may be dreamt up.”

Exploring the capabilities of EPU 46 

The EPU 46 platform gives each pace and customization choices for 3D printing. It allows the manufacturing of objects in a spread of colours and materials stiffness ranges with out compromising print high quality or printing pace.

As well as, colour fastness is assured by the direct integration of pigments into the resin, stopping any degradation or colour modifications over time. EPU 46 is obtainable in each black and a colour base, permitting for direct coloration. This characteristic allows customers to craft a variety of opaque and translucent colours whereas sustaining the fabric’s mechanical properties and printability.

Customers can modify materials stiffness by various resin ratios, permitting for a spread from Shore 78A to Shore 56A, all whereas sustaining printability. Carbon has verified formulations for each mushy and extra-soft supplies, and it gives printer drop-down choices for additional optimization. Moreover, EPU 46 meets biocompatibility necessities in accordance with ISO requirements 10993-5, 10993-10, and 10993-23, making it appropriate for functions the place biocompatibility is important, like medical gadgets and implants.

Developments in elastomer supplies

Final 12 months, Carbon launched a bioresorbable materials with confirmed in vivo biocompatibility. Throughout testing, this experimental in-house elastomer acquired a ‘non-toxic’ classification and demonstrated customizability for full tissue absorption. In response to the corporate, this resin is appropriate for 3D printing lattice buildings, increasing functions in tissue restore, nerve conduit creation, and wound dressing.

Netherlands-based photopolymer producer Liqcreate expanded its 3D printing materials portfolio by introducing an elastic engineering resin. Named Elastomer-X, this resin is designed to be the softest elastomers available on the market, providing excessive elongation, tear energy, and a low Shore A hardness of simply 43, just like TPUs and silicones when it comes to pliability. Liqcreate specified that this polymer is appropriate for numerous 3D printing functions, together with grommets, digital lattice foams, elastic industrial parts, bellows, and mushy end-of-arm tooling (EOAT) for robots.

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Featured picture reveals 3D printed midsole created utilizing Carbon EPU 46 materials. Picture by way of Carbon.