Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Arburg's game changer
The first company trying to address the demands and requirements of professional manu-
facturers was German “Arburg”, who originally specialize in plastic injection molding. Ar-
burg's 3D printer “Freeformer” uses thermoplastic granules which also are used in plastic
injection molding. The “Freeformer” uses material jetting technique.
The introduction of regular base materials solves the problem of high material cost and ma-
terial options (although not the lack of speed) for thermoplastics in 3D printing. Others are
now following Arburg's example which can be seen as a game changer for 3D printing.
Another project that uses ordinary polymer pellets as base material is US Oak Ridge Na-
tional Laboratory's cooperation with Lockheed Martin and Cincinnati Inc. which focuses on
improving speed and size when producing plastic parts (see more under “The shift from pro-
totyping to manufacturing”).
These two forerunners were followed by American Sculptify, a low-cost desktop printer pro-
ducer, who launched a Kickstarter campaign in 2014 introducing their FLEX - Fused Layer
Extrusion technology which used plastic pellets as base material.
