Stratasys, a polymer 3-D printing solutions company based in Eden Prairie, Minn. and Rehovot, Israel with a direct manufacturing facility in Farmington Hills, is expanding its materials ecosystem, adding two new composite-ready 3-D printers to its F123 series, and introducing GrabCad print software for Origin One and Origin One Dental 3-D printers.
The company announced new manufacturing materials across three different 3-D printing technologies, including third-party materials for its FDM 3-D printers for the first time. The addition of 16 new materials expands the use cases addressable by Stratasys for a wide variety of manufacturing settings.
The new materials include Stratasys validated materials for FDM 3-D printers, a variety of open, exploratory materials for the P3-based Origin One 3-D printer that can be used with an open material license (OML), and polypropylene powder for the SAF technology-powered H350 3-D printer.
“When customers identify opportunities for how polymer 3D printing can transform their manufacturing, we want them to have the confidence that Stratasys has the solutions – that’s what leaders do,” says Yoav Zeif, CEO of Stratasys.
“With five 3-D printing technologies that address the vast majority of the industrial polymer market and an open software ecosystem across the entire digital thread, our growing material ecosystem means customers are getting more materials faster, allowing them to quickly turn their additive manufacturing ideas into reality.
Stratasys is partnering with materials providers Covestro, Kimya, and Victrex to make Stratasys validated materials available for Stratasys FDM printers, starting with the Fortus 450mc platform. These materials have been validated by Stratasys with basic reliability testing to accelerate the expansion of material options available in the marketplace. New FDM materials include:
- High performance polymers: Arkema/Kimya PEKK-SC, a semi-crystalline PEKK thermoplastic polymer based on KEPSTAN by Arkema; and VICTREX AM200, a semi-crystalline LMPAEK thermoplastic filament compatible with soluble support.
- Reinforced and specialty polymers: Covestro PA6/66 GF20 FR, a flame-resistant, glass fiber composite material.
- Engineering polymers: Kimya PC FR, a flame-resistant polycarbonate material.
- Standard Grade Polymer: HIPS high impact polystyrene
The validated third-party materials are expected to ship before the end of the year.
Stratasys also continues to expand the use cases served by the Origin One 3-D printer by giving customers access to novel materials through an annual OML, which Stratasys introduced last fall. Stratasys has identified eight new materials for the OML program that unlock end-use applications with demanding requirements.
Materials developers contributing new open materials to the program include Covestro, Evonik, Arkema, Forward AM from BASF, Mechnano, Tethon 3D, Liqcreate, and polySpectra. The materials include photopolymer resins for molding, casting, high-temperature, ceramic, electrostatics dissipative (ESD), and elastic applications.
The materials can be purchased directly from material partners or their distributors and are designed for advanced users for testing, development, and end-use parts with exotic or novel properties.
Additionally, Stratasys announced that polypropylene (PP) material for the H350 3-D printer powered by SAF technology, which is designed for volume production of 3-D-printed parts. Together with PA12 (also known as Nylon 12), which Stratasys announced in September 2021, polypropylene will expand the material set for the H350 printer from the initial Stratasys High Yield PA11, a sustainable material derived from 100 percent bio-based castor beans.
The expansion of the F123 series includes the F190CR and F370CR 3-D printers, plus new FDM Nylon-CF10 material reinforced with carbon fiber. The new printers offer high stiffness and strength materials in a hardened machine ready for composite material printing.
“I’ve been working in engineering for over 35 years, and I love to innovate – not just in new product development but also in the processes and tools we use to develop our products. For more than 20 years Stratasys has allowed me to do just that through 3D printing,” says Dave Thompson, vice president of worldwide engineering and customer care in the contractor equipment division for Graco Inc and F370CR beta customer.
“Over the years we have grown our fleet of Stratasys printers and expanded our applications beyond prototyping to tooling, fixtures, and grippers for our robots. The new Stratasys F370CR printer will allow us to bring our AM applications to a new level, extend the life of our tools and even provide for a better surface finish.”
The composite-ready F123 series printers include reusable build trays, a built-in camera for remote monitoring, and a 7-inch control touchscreen. The F370CR printer also offers auto-changeover of materials, which means there is no need to interrupt a build to replace materials — a new canister is simply put in place and the build continues.
The printers also include integrated GrabCAD Print software that provides a simple and intuitive CAD-to-print workflow and includes advanced features to ensure successful prints. Stratasys also provides enterprise application connectivity through the MTConnect standard and its GrabCAD Software Development Kit.
“Stratasys is providing manufacturers with the 3-D printers and materials to support the growth of additive manufacturing on the factory floor, including these new printers that give manufacturers the ability to build stronger, print stiffer and print more accurately,” says Dick Anderson, senior vice president of manufacturing for Stratasys.
“We have the verified and published data that proves these new printers have dimensional repeatability of up to 99 percent regardless of part size or geometric complexity. That, together with 99 percent uptime and unique service and support, gives manufacturers the confidence to accelerate their adoption of additive manufacturing.”
Finally, the company has introduced GrabCAD Print for the Stratsys Origin One and Origin One Dental 3-D printers. The integration with GrabCAD Print is the first step in integrating Origin One into the full platform.
The GrabCAD Additive Manufacturing Platform enables two-way connectivity between 3-D printers, additive manufacturing, and enterprise applications, and broader Industry 4.0 infrastructure.
This ecosystem approach enables manufacturers to manage their production-scale additive manufacturing operations across the entire digital thread — from design through production. GrabCAD Print for Origin One will provide an alternative to third party pre-print software solutions, providing users with a consistent user experience and connectivity with Stratasys 3D printing technologies while replacing the native Origin web application.
“After being acquired by Stratasys, customers told us that the ability to use GrabCAD Print should be a top development priority Today we are happy to announce that we’re able to bring the productivity and simplified workflow of GrabCAD Print to that rapidly growing community of Origin One users,” says Ronen Lebi, vice president and head of production for Stratasys.
“In addition to GrabCAD Print for Origin One we are continuing to add solutions to our portfolio to best meet the needs of our customers. These new solutions allow us to better serve customers who need an offline printer solution and provide additional security features for the Stratasys Origin One printer.”
The company also introduced two additional Origin One offerings. Origin One Local is a new on-premises printer configuration that includes the same functional capabilities as the Origin One. The local version provides an option for customers in segments such as government and defense or with other extreme IT restrictions to still benefit from the Origin One’s capabilities.
Stratasys is also providing the Origin One ProAero air extractor system, available for office PolyJet-based 3-D printers as well. The professional plug-and-play system extracts air from the Origin One printer to ensure fumes, dust and odor are captured and filtered out before clean air is recirculated back into the room.
