Arburg
A key fob like the ones produced on-site at PLAST 2015 on the Arburg Freeformer.
From the first day of PLAST 2015, the now world famous Freeformer was swarming with curious crowds.
Arburg chose PLAST 2015 as the platform for the Freeformer to make its Italian debut, after taking the additive manufacturing machine to NPE 2015 in March, where it was given its first official premiere in the US.
On Arburg's sizeable stand, a Freeformer has been set up to demonstrate the potential for the industrial additive manufacturing of fully functional plastic parts in Hall 22, Stand C81/D82. With this innovative system, one-off parts and small-volume batches can be efficiently produced from
standard granulate without requiring a mould.
With the Freeformer, Arburg has expanded its industrial production range for plastics processing. While customers have long been able to rely on the company’s injection moulding expertise and therefore the efficient mass production of plastic parts, the same now applies to the cost-effective additive manufacturing of one-off parts and small, multiple-variant batches.
New industrial additive manufacturing process
With Arburg Plastic Freeforming (AKF), inexpensive, conventional plastic granulates are the base material – one of the advantages compared to other additive manufacturing processes. As with injection moulding, the granulate is first melted in a plasticising cylinder. A stationary discharge unit with a special nozzle then applies tiny plastic droplets layer-by-layer onto the part carrier using high-frequency piezo technology at a specified duty cycle of 60 to 200 Hertz. Depending on the nozzle used, the diameter of the droplets generated under pressure is between 0.2 and 0.3 millimetres.
The moving part carrier is positioned so that each droplet is deposited at the precise point calculated in advance. During cooling, the tiny droplets automatically fuse together. The desired three-dimensional part is thus created layer by layer. The construction chamber of the Freeformer offers space for parts with maximum dimensions of 190 x 135 x 250 millimetres.
Option for two-component applications
The Freeformer at the Plast 2015 will be equipped with a three-axis part carrier and two stationary discharge units.
The two discharge units can process two components at the same time. This means, for example, that parts can be produced in different colours, with special tactile qualities, or as a hard/soft combination. A wide selection of such products will be on view at the trade fair.
As an alternative, the second discharge unit of the Freeformer can be used to build up structures from a special support material. This makes it possible to achieve unusual or very complex part geometries.
Producing complex geometries with supporting structures
The Freeformer combines a standard ABS material with reversible supporting structures to produce a key fob with an articulated joint. This joint is created once the remains of the supporting structures required during the layer-by-layer build-up have been removed in a water bath. The construction time for the 3.89 gram part is 1.15 hours.
As an alternative, a supporting structure can be built up in the same material as the part itself. This option is preferred for parts with free-standing structures and clearly defined edges. A thinned out intermediate layer with targeted, predetermined breaking points enables the supporting structure to be simply broken off mechanically at a later stage.
Environmentally and user friendly
One great advantage of working with the Freeformer is that no dust or emissions are produced and no additional infrastructure is therefore necessary. No extraction units or cooling water are required. The system is therefore also perfectly suitable for use in an office or laboratory environment. All that is needed are a mains outlet, 3D CAD data and conventional plastic granules.
Automatic data processing
The 3D CAD data for the parts being manufactured (STL files) is processed offline on a PC. Special software generates the necessary manufacturing data through slicing. Once the Freeformer controller has received this data – which determines the axis movements, etc. – production can begin. Operation is extremely simple, no special programming or processing knowledge is required.