Stratasys, Inc.

Last summer, the world’s first unmanned air vehicle (UAV) whose entire structure was produced by laser sintering of nylon, was flown by engineers at the University of Southampton, England.

WEB EXCLUSIVE: A new static-dissipative ABS for fused deposition modeling (FDM) is available from Stratasys, Inc., Eden Prairie, Minn.

"We tend to jump on things early," says John Kittredge. "F-K has been a pioneer in a number of things. Our earliest example was converting HDPE margarine tubs to ABS. After that we were a leader in thermoforming polypropylene, and then APET." Now it's PLA biopolymer.

Many plastics processors are just starting to become familiar with the terms “additive manufacturing” or “additive fabrication,” which refer to a group of processes that build up parts by successively adding material, often in layers.

New material options for FDM (fused-deposition modeling) rapid prototyping and direct digital manufacturing systems are available from Stratasys, Inc., Minneapolis.

WEB EXCLUSIVE New material options for FDM (fused-deposition modeling) rapid-prototyping and direct digital manufacturing systems are available from Stratasys, Inc., Minneapolis.

Rapid prototyping (RP) equipment is increasingly being used to manufacture prototype and short-run production molds for blow molded and thermoformed parts.

As additive fabrication systems move from rapid prototyping into direct digital manufacturing, there is a need for greater build-size capability, speed, and accuracy.

A new ABS rapid-prototyping and production material is designed for surgical instruments and medical, food, and pharmaceutical processing applications.

An new FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) rapid-prototyping and rapid-manufacturing system from Stratasys, Minneapolis, reportedly builds significantly better parts than previous entry-level FDM systems in terms of both strength and feature detail.

The newest generation of 3D simulation software takes aim at screw designs as well as hot-runner, mold, and part design.

Bringing rapid prototyping capabilities in-house is becoming a reality for many plastics manufacturers, thanks to more affordable, faster, and easy-to-use 3D printers.

NPE 2000 offered a brand-new option for processors and mold designers: the ability to “rent” flow analysis on a pay-per-use basis over the Internet.

Bigger parts, tighter accuracy, and new elastomeric materials are some of the latest advances in rapid-prototyping technology. Applications for the new developments range from basic concept modeling to functional testing to the burgeoning field of rapid tooling.