Formnext 2017: The best 3D printing innovations

Posted By Lucie Gaget on Nov 29, 2017 | 0 comments

The third edition of Formnext took place in Frankfurt, Germany, from november 14th to november 17th 2017. Formnext is the largest tradeshow focusing on additive manufacturing. A lot of companies are taking this occasion as an opportunity to announce their software launch, to present their new machine or even to talk about their last 3D printing materials.

Let’s take a look at all of the biggest 3D printing innovations of this edition!

Additive manufacturing: a market becoming more mature

This years, the tradeshow counted 21,492 visitors. It is a record, the number of visitors increased of 60% on the last edition. Formnext 2017 powered by TCT is a real success! There were, at least, 470 exhibitors.

This record shows the maturity of the additive manufacturing market. Indeed, big manufacturers are now attending Formnext, to present their products or their technologies.

Moreover, we can notice that metal 3D printing is quite trendy as it is becoming more and more common. A lot of manufacturers are launching their own machine to 3D print metal parts. The research for a new resistant 3D printing material constantly improves and a lot of new technologies, always more efficient, are entering the 3D printing market.

Now, it’s time to see what’s new with additive manufacturing.

New 3D printing software

Sculpteo launches Fabpilot

At Sculpteo, we launched our own 3D printing software: Fabpilot, to help you run your 3D printing lab or factory. The solution has been developed in-house during 8 years, it will improve the efficiency of your production center and reduce the 3D printers costs. Fabpilot is  a cloud based software, and it is really easy to use!

Using the Cloud has many advantages and it will help you run your production center to boost its productivity. For example, all the team can work on the same project, and many features are here to help you get the best results for your customers.

Check out the presentation of this software in the video below:

The new 3D printers and technologies

HP launched the HP Jet Fusion 3D 4210

Our partner HP had already developed a 3D printer, the Multi Jet Fusion printer, that they launched a few months ago. It is an efficient 3D printer, printing Multi Jet Fusion PA12 material, and it is available through our online 3D printing service. This technology and material offers great flexibility when 3D printing, especially complex models, as it is flexible and offers high impact resistance, is light stabilized and is stable to every weather.  

During formnext 2017, HP presented the HP Jet Fusion 3D 4210, and three new materials.Check out the New 3D printing materials to get more informations about these.

This new 3D printer, HP Jet Fusion 3D 4210, allows to 3D print bigger volumes, at least 110,000 parts. Although, it reduce the costs of the printing process for the customer.

General Electrics unveiled an XXL printer

GE additive, the subsidiary of General Electrics dedicated to additive manufacturing, launched a new printer during this tradeshow.

They developed an XXL printer, 1,1 x 1,1 x 0,3 meters, specially made for aerospatial and automotive projects, to be able to conceive bigger parts. Their will is to offer 3D printed parts always more adapted to fit the client’s expectations. This machine is the first unveiled by the  A.T.L.A.S (Additive Technology Large Area System) innovation program, created by GE Electrics.

The first machines are actually tested and only available in its BETA version. This 3D printer will be available for all the professionals at the beginning of 2018.

See the presentation of this new 3D printer in the video below:

EOS and their P 500 polymer 3D printing system

EOS launched a new polymer system to mass produce high-quality polymer parts, thanks to the additive manufacturing technology. This new 3D printer is the EOS P 500. The goal of this new printer? To boost productivity!

This new 3D printer P 500 laser sintering system enables you to 3D print faster. It has a great material versatility, it is able to 3D print with any powdered material. It is a polymer additive manufacturing machine and it is supported by its intuitive CAM tool EOSPRINT 2!

This new machine is able to process materials which require operating temperatures of up to 300 degrees.

3DGence launched their INDUSTRY F340

3DGence presented their brand new 3D printer, INDUSTRY F340. INDUSTRY F340 is able to print a wide range of materials that are available on the market. This 3D printer has interchangeable modules, allowing to customize your machine to make it fit your needs.

Thanks to INDUSTRY F340, the customers will be able to use 3D printing materials such as PEEK, PC, PC-ESD, Nylon, as well as filaments like ABS or PET.

The maximum temperature of the hotend can reach up to 500 degrees!

Renishaw and metal 3D printing

Renishaw is actually growing its metal additive manufacturing activity: their main goal is to take additive manufacturing to the mainstream production level.

Renishaw is an engineering and scientific technology company, manufacturing metal 3D printing and building solutions for many industries. They introduced their new RenAM 500Q four-laser additive manufacturing system, to 3D print metal parts.

The RenAM 500Q is faster than a 3D printer with just one laser, and speeds up the process by up to four times. It can help you to improve significantly your productivity if you’re looking for a new metal 3D printer for you production center.

Voxeljet unveiled a brand new technology

Voxeljet unveiled a new 3D printing system using High Speed Sintering process. What is HSS?

This technology enables to 3D print parts with properties quite similar to technologies such as Selective Laser Sintering or Multi Jet Fusion.

Here is the description of this new technology, that you can find on Voxeljet’s website:

“This new process involves depositing a fine layer of polymeric powder, e.g. PA12 or TPU, after which an inkjet print head selectively deposits an infrared absorbing fluid directly onto the powder surface where sintering is desired.The build area is then illuminated with infrared light, causing the printed fluid to absorb this energy and then melt and sinter the underlying powder”

XJet

During formnext 2017, XJet launched a new line of systems for metal and ceramic additive manufacturing.

XJet introduced the XJet Carmel 1400. This printer features a 1,400 cm2 build tray and is able to create ceramic parts as well as metal parts. It is using the NanoParticle Jetting technology, which allows a great accuracy and the creation of parts with high-quality.

3DCeram presented CERAMAKER 900H

3DCeram is a french company specialised in 3D printing ceramic, essentially for aeronautics, aerospace, automotive, medical or luxury. They launched a new 3D printer, Ceramaker 900H. It is the third 3D printer developed by this company.

eSun launched its eBox

eSun decided to help all the professionals having problems to store their 3D printing materials: they unveiled a storage box.

The eBox can protect the materials from moisture, and allows any professional to store 3D printing materials in good conditions. Moreover, this box can measure accurately the weight inside of the box, which is an useful tool.

New 3D printing materials

HP unveiled three new materials

HP launched a new printer, but also new 3D printing materials.

They developed three materials:

• PA 12 glass beads: this is a 40% glass bead filled thermoplastic material. It is has a good mechanical properties, and is perfect to create functional parts.
• PA 11:this is a robust thermoplastic, with a great chemical resistance. It is designed for the production of functional parts for many different industries.
• Polypropylene (PP): this is a  lightweight 3D printing material that offers a great resistance to chemical products.

PA 12 glass beads and PA 11 are low-cost materials, that enable to create high-quality and functional parts. These materials also have a high-reusability.

SABIC introduced the first printing material of a new serie

SABIC is a material company. They just launched the LEXAN EXL AMHI240F filament during this edition of formnext. This material is described as a high performance filament. It has a great toughness and a ductility at temperatures as low as to -30 °C.

SABIC announced that this LEXAN EXL AMHI240F was the first of a new range of materials that will be unveiled next year.

Prodways

Prodways announced the launch of a new 3D printing material thanks to their partnership with the company A. Schulman. This new plastic material is called PA6-12T. It is the perfect material for parts that needs resistance to impacts or vibrations. Moreover, this material allows to create complex objects!

Carbon and its new biocompatible resin

Carbon launched a brand new resin: Dubbed SIL 30. This new 3D printing material has been certified biocompatible. It is a perfect material to create any medical device.

They also announced that their other resins have been certified biocompatible including:

• Cyanate Ester (CE 220),
• Rigid Polyurethane (RPU 61 and RPU 70),
• Elastomeric Polyurethane (EPU 40),
• Epoxy (EPX 81)
• Urethane Methacrylate (UMA 90).

Once again, there was a lot of announcement during this edition of Formnext, in terms of new technologies, new softwares, new 3D printers and even new materials.

You were there during this tradeshow? Tell us in the comments what was the best annoucement for you, and the most impressive booth!

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