Additive Manufacturing
Have you ever needed a part that’s just not commercially available? Or maybe you need a custom-made part for your project but don’t have the means to produce it yourself? Working on a prototype and want it quickly? In times like these, additive manufacturing (AM) might be the perfect solution.
As a Carbon 3D Production Partner, Nicolet Plastics offers tailored manufacturing solutions for low-volume production, proofs-of-concept, and customization, with tool-free design flexibility and fast turnaround times.
Using Carbon’s Digital Light SynthesisTM additive manufacturing technology, Nicolet Plastics produces parts with excellent mechanical properties, resolution, and surface finish using digital light projection, oxygen permeable optics, and programmable liquid resins.
Carbon harnesses molecular science with breakthrough electronic technology to make parts with consistent mechanical properties and strength in all directions, including the z-axis. The characteristics often match up with parts made from plastic injection molding.
We also can perform rapid prototyping additive manufacturing in metal.
Additive manufacturing offers the following benefits:
- Additive Manufacturing Provides End-Use Quality: With engineering-grade resins, no trade-off between surface finish and mechanical properties.
- Design Flexibility: Use it for proof of concept prototyping before moving to mass production or for complex designs like lattice structures.
- Engineering Resins: Our engineering-grade materials include elastomers for consumer products, biocompatible silicones, and high-temperature automotive materials.
- Additive Manufacturing is Fast, Tooling-Free: Achieve proof of concept with a prototype with a 3D-printed fabrication before investing in tooling with end-use parts without tooling. It reduces the time to market and the possibility of design changes.
How Does Additive Manufacturing Work?
Additive Manufacturing (AM) is an industrial production term for 3D printing, a computer-controlled process of depositing layers of materials to create a three-dimensional object. It makes parts by adding material layer by layer, which produces complex designs that wouldn’t be possible with traditional manufacturing methods. Materials can be high performance plastics, nylon, or other applied materials. Unlike traditional manufacturing, which often requires machining or other techniques to remove surplus material, 3D printing additive manufacturing is built layer by layer.
With additive manufacturing, objects can be created with precise geometric shapes using computer-aided design (CAD) or 3D object scanners. The process can create high-quality parts comparable to thermoplastic injection molding in minutes instead of hours.
Industrial additive manufacturing has a wide range of distinct processes. As a general guide, here’s how it works:
Ceramics, metals, and polymers can all be additively manufactured using direct energy deposition. As a bed moves vertically, a laser, electric arc, or electron beam gun melts wire, filament, or powder.
Using a 3D printing head, it can deposit alternating layers of powdered material and a liquid binder.
After pouring liquid resin photopolymer into a vat, using mirrors to direct ultraviolet light cures the successive layers of resin. This is called photo-polymerization.
As the nozzle moves horizontally and vertically, melted material is built layer by layer. The nozzle or bed is mounted on a movable arm to extrude or draw polymers through a heated nozzle. It adheres using chemical bonding agents or temperature control.
Two technologies can be used for sheet lamination; laminated object manufacturing (LOM) and ultrasonic additive manufacturing (UAM). The alternate layers of paper and adhesive make laminated objects ideal for creating items with visual or aesthetic appeal. UAM is capable of joining aluminum, stainless steel, and titanium sheets with low energy, low-temperature method of joining thin metal sheets.
Have a question? We can help.
Additive Manufacturing is growing in popularity for a good reason. It’s an efficient and versatile process that can create various products with intricate details. If you need additive manufacturing services for your next project, please fill out the form below. We’d be happy to help!
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