“We should be launching new materials this week” – BASF hopes to increase productivity in 3D printing

Air-free tires printed with thermoplastic polyurethane 3D

BASF 3D Printing Solutions (BASF 3D Printing Solutions) calls itself a company that is crucial to the future of additive manufacturing (also known as “3D printing”, Additive Manufacturing, AM), and this company is in The market has been blank for a long time.

Machine suppliers, software developers, assistive technology providers, and of course end users are also important, but top-notch chemical expertise is mostly lacking. Not only does this mean that many 3D printing material offerings fall short of end-use part manufacturers’ expectations, it also means that there are not enough materials available.

The Additive Manufacturing (AM) market has always had market potential and has even more potential to realize innovative ideas. Due to the market potential of Additive Manufacturing (AM), BASF established a dedicated 3D printing department 12 months ago, and the possibility of realizing innovative ideas defines its future development direction and way, BASF Managing Director of 3D Printing Solutions Manager Volker Hammes summed it up succinctly at TCT Asia 2018.

At a stand showcasing real industrial components, such as car air ducts and intake manifolds, Hammes highlighted the use of its decades of material development experience under BASF’s marketing slogan of “Creating new chemistry.” The importance of combining with the complementary expertise of collaborators in various fields.

Hammes said: “We think one of the reasons 3D printing has not entered the industry is that it is a technology for prototyping, and those major established companies are actually applying this closed business model and trying to Doing everything yourself slows innovation. However, this business model is not suitable for mass industrial production. Apart from the emergence of some pioneering pioneers, such as Materialize, the major players are also offering other solutions. Very negative, so we believe that the best leaders in each technology area will grow faster through good cooperation.”

Therefore, BASF 3D Printing Solutions stands out, working with a range of hardware original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), software suppliers and materials experts. In addition to long-term partners, BASF also entered into partnerships with Farsoon, Essentium Materials and BigRep in 2017. BASF is working with Essentium to develop robust materials for extrusion molding processes; with BigRep to develop 3D printing materials, while its partners continue to develop advanced equipment and software.

At the same time, greater productivity was achieved in 2018. At the Additive Manufacturing Users (AMUG) conference, the company launched some high-performance materials under the UltraFuse brand with Essentium, and two months ago the company expanded its collaboration with BigRep to co-develop novel applications. BASF and Ultimaker have partnered to bring professional-standard materials to leading-edge benchtops. Most recently, the company injected $25 million into Materialize and is focusing on the optimization of software and materials across a range of processes, with an emphasis on software development. This year, Advanc3D and SetUp Performance were also fully acquired by BASF 3D Printing Solutions.

Well, it’s a busy time, but not without good reason. BASF may have only launched a dedicated 3D printing division last year, but its existence dates back several years (the company has been working with Farsoon since 2015) and has conducted remote research for several years. BASF has been collaborating with some of the biggest names in several industries for decades, so the company is in a position to inspire other companies to realize the possibilities of additive manufacturing, especially through its 3D printing division, which has been successful and is about to go into production. 3D printing production.

In recent years, companies such as Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) and Clariant (Clariant) have also entered this market. appear, a few will appear immediately. Collaboration has always been necessary for BASF, and the company believes that great things can be achieved through it.

Hammes said: “Taking additive extrusion liquid filament as an example, Stratasys has been and still is a dominant player in the market, and they deserve a lot of credit for their efforts in this technology, while For 20 years or so, they’ve had 10 to 15 different materials to choose from, and two of them are the best sellers. We think this is the technology that’s best suited for bringing plastic materials to the end user, So actually, we should be launching a new product this week, not just a handful of products. I’m not just talking about us, I’m talking about all the businesses and individuals who are proactive. We should do our best, But we can’t do everything alone.”

This involves not only a steady output of professional-grade materials, but also the aforementioned hardware, software, and assistive technology developers. to terminalThe same is true for users. There needs to be constant innovation in the tools, but also more courage and encouragement from those who end up using them. Everyone has to do their part.

Hammes emphasized: “This is our responsibility, but the end user also has to bear certain risks. The production of challenging parts can start with small batch production, and then advance to medium batch production, and gain experience so that Put the production process in place. At the end of the day, there has to be certified quality and reproduction quality and so on.”

“We wanted to combine our general manufacturing experience, global supply chain and application knowledge with the ecosystem, but we realized that we depended heavily on the seriousness, risk taking and financial commitment of potential end users, You’ll see huge differences between companies in these areas, how much they’re willing to invest in themselves, or just take a wait-and-see attitude, and some businesses will be the best early adopters, if not late followers. We We’re looking for pioneers, that’s why we’re showing the product [at TCT]. We’re here so that people can come and use the product and the technology and say, ‘I have this idea, can you help us make it happen’ ?'”

BASF 3D Printing Solutions believes that, if not yet, it will be. Its partnerships and acquisitions span three continents, with a product portfolio for materials extrusion, powder bed fusion and VAT photopolymerization processes. In terms of product portfolio, a small number of resin-based experimental materials are currently being tested by pilot customers and are expected to be commercialized before the end of the decade.

Although the company has only been in operation for a year and is clearly still in the “construction” phase, the company has remained productive. This fully demonstrates the “part” of BASF’s plan to launch new materials this week. Further, it is a “part” to promote the application and development of additive manufacturing (AM) technology, and this is what Hammes said. Reasons why what is said is believable.