Material Blend suits rapid prototyping applications.
Press Release Summary:
Combining polycarbonate and ABS plastic, PC-ABS allows manufacturers to predict end-product performance by modeling with same material that end-products are made of. Support material is water-soluble, which permits hands-free removal, shortening modeling process. Material blend's thermal and mechanical properties make it suited for production of parts in automotive, electronic, telecommunications, and toy industries.
Original Press Release:
Stratasys Introduces New Rapid Prototyping and Rapid Production Material Blend: PC-ABS
Minneapolis, April 25 - (NASDAQ: SSYS) Rapid prototyping system maker, Stratasys, announced the release of a new material blend: PC-ABS.
PC-ABS is a blend of polycarbonate and ABS plastic. Although PC-ABS blends are widely used to manufacture today's plastic products, a blend has not been available for rapid prototyping and rapid production until now.
Manufacturers make products from PC-ABS because the blend combines the strength of PC with the flexibility of ABS. These manufacturers now have the advantage of modeling with the same material that their end-products are made of. This allows them to better-predict end-product performance. Those performing rapid production will have another high-performance thermoplastic to choose from.
The PC-ABS blend was beta tested by Daimler Chrysler as well as cleaning system manufacturer, Karcher. According to Daimler Chrysler's rapid prototyping department manager, Andreas Hamp, the material became very popular at the company during beta tests. "Shortly after we began using PC-ABS at our in-house RP department, we got a lot of part orders for the material," he says. "We have been eager for the official release so we can provide it to in-house customers on a regular basis."
At Karcher, RP substitutional squad leader Achim Sanzenbacher likes the toughness of PC-ABS as well as the ease of support removal. "With the new material, we're now able to build parts that were previously difficult to make," he says.
PC-ABS blends are used in production of parts for the automotive, electronic, telecommunications, and toy industries, among others. The blend from Stratasys has excellent thermal and mechanical properties. It is significantly stronger than ABS, and feature detail is similar to that of Stratasys ABS modeling material.
The new material's support material is water-soluble, which permits hands-free removal that shortens the modeling process. Because of the soluble supports, PC-ABS allows excellent feature detail, design freedoms, and single-build assemblies.
Stratasys PC-ABS is for use with the following T-Class systems: FDM Titan, FDM Vantage S, and FDM Vantage SE. Two layer-thickness settings are available: 0.005 and 0.010 in. (0.127 and 0.245 mm). A 0.007 in (0.178 mm) layer thickness is planned for future releases.
To use the new material, existing users must be updated to the most current software configurations. To determine if their system is compatible with PC-ABS or to receive a spec sheet on material properties, readers should contact their Stratasys sales representative. PC-ABS will sell for the same price as Stratasys polycarbonate modeling material.
The Stratasys T-Class platform allows the use of high-temperature, high-performance engineering thermoplastics. Stratasys FDM systems require no special facilities or venting and involve no nuisance, dangerous, or hazardous materials or by-products. Because FDM rapid prototyping systems use popular thermoplastics such as ABS, PC, and sulfone, they are becoming recognized for their ability to rapid produce end products, both for short production runs and custom products.
Stratasys Inc, Minneapolis, manufactured 37% of all rapid prototyping systems installed worldwide in 2003, the highest percentage of any manufacturer, according to Wohlers Report 2004. The company patented the rapid prototyping process known as fused deposition modeling (FDM®). The process creates solid models directly from a 3D CAD program using ABS plastic, polycarbonate, PPSF or other materials. Stratasys manufactures rapid prototyping systems for use by OEMs such as aerospace, automotive, defense, medical, and consumer product makers. These rapid prototyping systems are also used for rapid production and rapid tooling applications.
