Together with its subsidiary Dyneon, the multi-technology company 3M will be presenting two trailblazing plastic technologies at this year's industry meeting place, the Fakuma international trade fair for plastics processing in Friedrichshafen.
3M
Visitors will learn how the additive manufacture with fluoropolymers by mouse-click works and will see exciting applications of 3M Glass Bubbles in plastics.
3M has developed and applied for a patent for a new technology: for the first time ever, fully fluorinated polymers such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) can be processed by means of a 3D printing method. The new process enables the manufacture of components and the integration of several functions in one moulded part – at the click of a mouse and entirely without tools.
New laboratory printer, new experiments
Dyneon is working on the additive manufacture of fluoropolymer components at its Burgkirchen site. The company will be demonstrating the current state of research on the additive manufacture with PTFE at the Fakuma. This new additive process will be used for the creation of prototypes and small series with complex geometries for the aerospace and chemical industries, in medical equipment manufacturing and in semiconductor factories.
A versatile filler: 3M Glass Bubbles
Spherical, hollow and with a glass shell – these are the three main characteristics of 3M Glass Bubbles that give them their special properties: easy to process, thermally insulating, fast cooling or as a white pigment, to name just a few. There is one thing that 3M Glass Bubbles cannot do, however: being heavy. Therefore, they are ideal for use in the megatrend lightweight construction and can already be found in every fifth car today. At the Fakuma, 3M's Advanced Materials division will show that Glass Bubbles have also proven their value in thermoplastic materials and will promote a better understanding of the filler with useful tools such as the "Weight-Volume Calculator".
New: Glass Bubbles partner programme
3M is currently setting up a Glass Bubbles partner programme. What can the spheres do, how can they be incorporated into thermoplastic matrices with maximum efficiency and what needs to be observed to obtain the desired properties? To provide best possible expertise to customers, these and other questions will be answered in partner training courses in addition to checking the correct processing. The intention is to ensure that processors and end users of 3M Glass Bubbles obtain competent support.
Hall B4, Booth 4406
