TriMech Blog

The VeroFlex and VeroFlexVivid family of materials are an unbelievably unique set of new materials available on Stratasys J Series 3D printers, which are capable of producing parts that have improved strength and flexibility while retaining great shape memory. Similar to how our simulated rubber-like Agilus material works, parts produced in either VeroFlex or VeroFlexVivid do not need to be handled as gently as other material parts and will hold up with little fear of them breaking. However, unlike Agilus, this material produces parts that are rigid and will snap right back to their original shape after being flexed in any direction. This makes them a great material to print high-quality full-color parts that are thin, like eyewear and small action figures, so today we’re going to show these new materials in action as we make some incredible Fourth of July sunglasses!

With the latest advancements in additive manufacturing, it is now possible to 3D print insulative and conductive material together, enabling the rapid on-demand production of printed circuit boards (PCBs), antennas, flexible electronics and other functional freeform electronics. In this article, Simon Fried, President of Nano Dimension USA, answers the top five frequently asked questions about this new technology. You will learn about the benefits of 3D printing electronics in-house, understand how inkjet deposition technology works, examples of how to design parts for electrical prototypes and watch examples of 3D printed parts being created using the DragonFly 2020 Pro electronics 3D printer.

June 23 is International Women in Engineering Day! This campaign was created to raise awareness about the amazing women that fulfill engineering positions in our workforce, and to ignite a spark of interest in young girls and women around the world to pursue a career in engineering. In this blog post, we are going to learn about ten women that impact the 3D printing industry everyday with their creativity and drive.

Printing amazing full-color, real to the touch textures using the Stratasys J735 or J750 printer and Agilus30 White simulated rubberlike material is truly amazing. Previously, we discussed some ways to create colored 3D texture files for printing through the use of wood and stone 2D image files. In this article, I’m going to show you some tips and tricks when creating your full-color 3D models in Adobe Photoshop to create a leather texture. Additionally, I’ll share some things to look out for when you are creating your models to avoid not-so-appealing final models, and what you can do to fix these issues.

In our previous blog post, we walked through the process of setting up an airflow study over the front of the Thunder Roadster. We used SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation to set up a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis to verify that incoming air is adhering to the surface of the car and entering the hood scoop at racing speeds. With the results verified, the next step is to design new inlet components to route as much of that air to the engine as possible to improve performance.

RAPID+TCT was last week in Detroit and there were a lot of manufacturers, large and small, showcasing their advancements in the additive world. RAPID is one of the largest additive manufacturing conferences in the US and has been running for the last 30 years. At this show, many manufacturers announce their new technologies, so it’s usually an exciting show. This was my first RAPID and I was excited to see what all the big manufacturers were showing off as well as to see some of the more emerging technologies like bioprinting. Below are some of my highlights from the show.

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is a 3D printing technology that uses production-grade thermoplastics to create prototypes, end-use products, replacement parts and much more. These thermoplastic materials are strong and resistant to high temperatures. If your parts will be tested through an arduous process, FDM may be the best choice. There are several ways in which FDM can help improve the flow of product development in different parts of the process.

TriMech’s solution partner, Stratasys, has recently signed an agreement with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and Don Schumacher Racing. This agreement allows the automotive teams to leverage the Fortus and F123 series of 3D printers as part of their additive manufacturing process to stay ahead of the competition by accelerating component prototyping, proof-of-concept and finished ultralight usable components. 

In our last article, “How Do I Print Wood", we learned how to 3D print a texture in full-color using the Agilus30 White material on the Stratasys J750. We discussed how to use new SOLIDWORKS 2019 features to create physical 3D displacement models using a 2D bump mapping pattern and then apply the color texture to the model in Adobe Photoshop CC.

In this article, I’m going to show you another method to accomplish nearly the same end product, this time using a stone texture and only Adobe Photoshop CC. What’s more, we’ll go into how 3D displacement using bump maps in Photoshop works, showing you a quick and easy method to manually alter those bump maps to make smoother or coarser physical textures.

Choosing the right  3D printer for your prototypes or parts requires an understanding of the pros and cons of the different technologies available. Some 3D printers use technologies such as Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), a layer by layer technology using multiple filaments to create a structure, while others use Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), a laser powered technology that uses a single filament material to create sturdy structures. Both FDM and SLS could create a strong structure, but it is important to understand how each technology can impact your 3D printing process.

TriMech has had the complete Desktop Metal Studio System for over five months now, and we’ve had the opportunity to create some incredible parts with it during that time. One of our favorite parts so far is a heatsink, which utilizes the Studio System’s Bound Metal Deposition (BMD) printing technology to its advantage, in order to print a captured hollow cavity that requires absolutely no support or post-processing, which can’t be machined and is impossible for other metal printing technologies on the market to create.

This month Stratasys announced that their PolyJet J735/J750 successfully passed the rigorous requirements required to make it the world’s first and only PANTONE validated 3D printer. Designers and manufacturers around the world are rejoicing! This changes the game for 3D printing as design and prototype colors can now be matched with 100% specificity, making the process from concept to final product even more accurate.