Know Your Materials Page 1

As more advanced and reliable solutions come to market to offset the percentage of a market owned by traditional manufacturing methods, additive manufacturing is consistently looked at with admiration. This new technology is currently positioned as a complement to subtractive manufacturing and will continue to do so until certain variables can be tamed with near-flawless accuracy and precision. One step closer to perfection is the addition of anchor columns in GrabCAD Print. Let's take a look at how this works. 

The goal for this project was to create a set of 3D printed mounting brackets that I wanted to bolt to the factory mounting locations at the front valance of my Toyota MR2. The original lower front spoiler on the car was cracked and in very poor shape. To replace this part would be costly and time-consuming, and because of that, I figured why not try and create my own? Let's take a look at the steps I took to create a prototype wind spitter using 3D scanning, SOLIDWORKS and 3D printing.

GrabCAD Print version 1.54 now gives all FDM users access to the Wall Stabilizer tool so they can apply this tool to a 3D print that is tall and thin for better builds. Let’s dive in and take a quick test drive through the interface and check out the options that are available.

Here is another installment in the Know your Materials video series. In this video, we have some samples of the new Vero UltraBlack and Vero UltraWhite PolyJet material. You may be asking “What’s so 'ultra' about these materials?”

Carbon fiber has become a very popular item in the Additive Manufacturing world. There are a slew of companies offering various carbon fiber solutions. Stratasys also has their own Nylon12 based carbon fiber material on their Fortus line of 3D printers, but this is a new solution for their F123 series of 3D printers.  ABS Carbon Fiber Filled material is set to be released for the F170, F270, and F370 in April, so let's take a closer look at ABS-CF10.

If you’re looking to get more durable, tear-resistant prototypes that can stand up to repeated flexing, you can’t go wrong with Agilus. 3D-printable Agilus is a superior rubber-like PolyJet photopolymer family ideal for advanced design verification and rapid prototyping that can hit various levels of softness and hardness in the same print job without any assembly or having to swap materials during printing. 

Antero 840CN03 (ESD) is a PEKK-based FDM thermoplastic with carbon nanotubes specifically formulated for the flexibility of FDM technology. It combines physical and mechanical qualities with the use of electrostatic dissipative (ESD) properties. The electrostatic dissipative capability makes this material a better fit for prototyping electronics, compared to Antero 800NA. The Antero ESD is chemical and wear-resistant, has ultra-low outgassing properties and is a high-performance ESD. These qualities are critical in space and industrial applications.

Diran (Diran 410MF07) is an FDM nylon-based thermoplastic filament material that is perfect for manufacturing tooling applications. This new material is specifically ideal for jigs, fixtures and typical manufacturing tooling that require a non-marring interface that has interactions between the tool and the work piece. Let's take a closer look at this new FDM thermoplastic.