Polymer Technologies

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Maturity of polymer processes

Polymer Technologies Maturity of polymer processes

Maturity of polymer processes

Race of the technologies

The spectrum of polymer Additive Manufacturing technologies has become immensely wide and is continuously increasing. As of today, 17 different working principles exist – all at different stages at their development cycle. To successfully employ a certain technology, it is important to understand its maturity as well as recent and expected development.

Therefore, this chapter provides an overview on both established and upcoming technology principles and assesses their potential.

Imaege source: Nexa3D

What you will find in this section

Polymer AM maturity index

Evaluation with maturity index

To evaluate the different AM technologies AMPOWER has developed a model to characterize the maturity of an Additive Manufacturing technology based on two indices. The Industrialization Maturity Index and the Technology Maturity Index describe and compare the capabilities and adoption rate of each AM technology in the industrial environment. Both indices are crucial factors for evaluating the current status of any AM technology. 

  • The Technology Maturity Index evaluates the process capability, system reliability and availability as well as implemented quality control measures. 
  • The Industrialization Index assesses the supply chain, material availability, installed system base, public knowledge and research as well as standardization of each technology. 

Each category is weighted according to its specific importance. Typically, the technological maturity increases first, and the industrialization follows. A detailed description of the current state of maturity is given in the deep dive section for each technology.

Technologies with AM Maturity Index “Prototype system” are still at an early development stage with in-house systems only or on the verge of first systems at beta-customers. Many of the technologies in this corridor are proprietary AM principles or just recently made public. 

At a Maturity Index of “First application”, industrial adoption takes place and users introduce the technology in their R&D departments or machines are set up for pre serial production trials at beta-customers. 

Technologies at a Maturity Index of “Industrial use” are on the verge of full industrialization. Technologies in this area have not yet been widely adopted as a serial manufacturing technology across multiple industries. 

To reach “Widespread industrial use” the technology must be established in multiple industries as a production technology for functional end parts. 

Due the industrial focus, AMPOWER does not rate technologies that are still in the proof-of-concept stage.

Established technologies

Powder Bed Fusion, Vat Polymerization and Filament Material Extrusion with widespread industrial use

Several polymer AM technologies, including Powder Bed Fusion, Vat and Area-wise Vat Polymerization, and Filament Material Extrusion, continue to be widely used in industry. These technologies have been utilized by users for over 20 years, resulting in the development of various applications, including end-use parts and tools. In terms of technology, AMPOWER does not anticipate major developments. However, to further industrialize the use of the mentioned technologies, users are demanding significant advancements in the automation of the entire process chain.

As previously mentioned, AMPOWER does not anticipate significant advancements in the established Additive Manufacturing technologies. However, there are some possible advancements in the pipeline. Some suppliers, such as EOS, have left users waiting for quite some time. EOS announced their LASER PRO FUSION system several years ago, but has not yet delivered on their promises. Nevertheless, AMPOWER views this technology as a potential leap forward in increasing productivity and reducing the cost per part, especially if material prices and procurement costs can be lowered.

In 2022, there have been further developments in powder-based systems, including the launch of the new HP system, which is now capable of producing white parts. This adoption may generate new applications for formerly grey parts, particularly when considering the coloring process. In addition to HP, STRATASYS has released their SAF technology to compete with HP’s MJF technology. The market entry of NEXA 3D with their QLS system may also bring some movement to the market structure.

Electrophotography Sheet Lamination

Technology Maturity Index: Medium

Industrialization Maturity Index: Medium

The status of most technologies has not changed significantly compared to last year. Some especially young technologies have updated their status from a prototype system to the first application category. EVOLVE with their Electrophotography Sheet Lamination technology for example delivered first systems in 2022 to industrial alpha users to test and further improve the system capabilities. AMPOWER expects that this will accelerate the development of the technology and further broaden the polymer Additive Manufacturing possibilities for high volume production. However, the technology is just in the starting phase of its journey towards industrialization and is not expected to reach wide-spread industrial use in the next 5 years. This is caused by the high investment needed and the current lack of experience regarding robustness.

Area-wise Vat Polymerization

Technology Maturity Index: Very High

Industrialization Maturity Index: Very High

Another technological advancement was the introduction of a new approach within the Area-wise Vat Polymerization processes. Two players on the market have presented a similar process, namely CUBICURE with their CERION system and BCN3D with their Viscous Lithography Manufacturing (VLM) technology. These technologies aim to further industrialize the resin market to high volume production. Nevertheless, both are yet to prove their processability and industrial relevance especially when competing with the established vendors.

Volumetric Vat Polymerization

A new entry on the Maturity Index is the Volumetric Vat Polymerization. This technology was introduced by XOLO, a Berlin-based startup. The technology is at the early development stages looking to overcome technical difficulties and develop an industry ready system.

Technology Maturity Index: Low

Industrialization Maturity Index: Low

Thermal Powder Bed Fusion

Technology Maturity Index: Very High

Industrialization Maturity Index: High

In terms of the established technologies no major technological advancements were observed. The status-quo technologies of the industry are still Filament Material Extrusion, Area-wise and Vat Polymerization and Powder Bed Fusion. Further potential for improvement is in the field of Thermal Powder Bed Fusion, where several new market entries will put pressure on HP with its trademarked MJF technology. In particular STRATASYS is expected to push Thermal Powder Bed Fusion to the same level as Laser Powder Bed Fusion in the coming years.

Vat Vulcanization

Technology Maturity Index: Low

Industrialization Maturity Index: Low

The Vat Vulcanization process that was developed by the Swiss startup SPECTROPLAST pushed forward in its development and found suitable applications. The silicone material is of interest for customized consumer goods and medical products with direct skin contact. The latest developments have therefore increased the evaluation of this technology on the AMPOWER Maturity Index. However, also in this case it has yet to prove its capabilities for industrial use cases on a larger scale to step up to “First application” Category.

Pellet Material Extrusion

Technology Maturity Index: High

Industrialization Maturity Index: Medium

Pellet Material Extrusion has not yet made the step into “Industrial use”. However, due to more and more emerging technology suppliers, AMPOWER expects this technology to be further driven towards industrial use quite rapidly. Many users are looking for alternatives to the established Filament Material Extrusion systems due to the high material costs that are often a consequence of the closed material systems. Pellet Material Extrusion is seen as a potential game changer for this market. However, Filament Material Extrusion has a widespread industrial use and established installed base. Hence, new systems of Pellet ME will have to overcome an entry barrier and prove their reliability and feasibility for business cases.

Continuous Fiber Material Extrusion

Technology Maturity Index: High

Industrialization Maturity Index: Medium

With regards to Continuous Fiber Material Extrusion some developments were made. For instance, ANISOPRINT announced an industrial scale system at Formnext 2021. Continuous Fiber Material Extrusion is also available from MARKFORGED and other competitors. However, the reliability of these systems has not yet reached the needs of industrial users. On this basis AMPOWER has not changed the position of this category from “First Applications” to “Industrial Use”.

Material Jetting

Technology Maturity Index: High

Industrialization Maturity Index: High

The established technology of Material Jetting is often forgotten and labeled as a pure prototyping and visual model producing technology. Reason may be that the technology has relatively low competition on the market and that other resin technologies outperform it in terms of throughput. In 2021 we have observed some improvements that might change the steady status. DP POLAR has announced a continuous Material Jetting process that increases the productivity and might move the Material Jetting technology ahead. Also, startup INKBIT has introduced their capability of a roller free system using an optical system to balance the process.

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Sinter-based AM technologies and process chain

Sinter-based AM - a technology overview

Many different printing technologies - one sintering process

The sinter-based AM (SBAM) technologies have, as the name suggests, the sintering process in common. In this process, the printed green part is consolidated into a dense part and receives its final properties. The green part can be printed in advance using different technologies.They all have in common that metal powder is bound to the desired shape by a binder. The best-known printing technologies include Binder Jetting and Filament Material Extrusion.

In this section, you learn everything about the sinter-based AM  process chain and get an overview of the different printing technologies.

Goal and structure of this course

This course is aimed at engineers, designers and other professionals that are working closely with sinter-based AM technologies. The goal is to cover the most important aspects that will enable engineers and designers to fully grasp the capabilities and technical limitations of the printing technologies and the sintering process to succeed in technology selection and part design. Besides going through the course from the beginning until the end, this course can also act as a constant source of knowledge while working on AM projects. 

The course is structured into the following sections.

This section will start with an overview of the sinter-based AM process chain and its printing technologies, followed by a technology deep dive into the most important aspects of the BJT technology, followed by a closer look at the debinding and sintering step also including sintering simulation .

The second section will provide an overview of the different materials that are available as well as part characteristics that can be achieved with the BJT process and typical methods for quality assurance. Finally, several common defects in the BJT process are presented. 

The last section will act as a guideline for designers. Besides generally describing the process when designing for Additive Manufacturing, actionable restrictions and guidelines for the BJT process are provided. The final section will present several design examples from different industries. 

What you will find in this section

Sinter-based AM process chain

From digital model to finished part

Data preparation

Simulation to compensate the deformation during the sintering step, nesting of parts and definition of printing parameters

Printing

Through various printing processes, different feedstocks such as metal powders, filaments, pellets or dispersions are processed into green parts

Unpacking

Unpacking of fragile green parts needs to be done carefully and is typically a manual process.

Debinding

Debinding describes the process of removing the binder which results in a brown part

Sintering

To reach the structural integrity of a metal part, a sinter process is required. The powder particles fuse together to a coherent, solid structure via a mass transport that occurs at the atomic scale driven via diffusional forces.

The brown part shrinks ~13-21 % in each direction.

The process chain of sinter-based technologies differs from other AM Technologies. Especially the post-printing processes (debinding and sintering) are crucial to achieve the intended mechanical properties.

Technology principle

How does Binder Jetting work?

Binder Jetting is a powder based Additive Manufacturing technology in which a liquid polymer binder is selectively deposited onto the powder bed binding the metal particles and forming a green body.

The metal powder is applied to a build platform in a typical layer thickness of 40 µm to 100 µm. Subsequently a modified 2D print head apply a binder selectively onto the powder bed. Depending on machine technology a hardening or curing process of the binder is performed in parallel for each layer and/or at the end of the whole build. During the in-situ curing process a heat source is used to solidify the binder and form a solid polymer – metal powder composite.

Working Principle of Binder Jetting

Afterwards the build platform moves downward by the amount of one layer thickness and a new layer of powder is applied. Again, the liquid binder is deposited and hardened in the required regions of the next layer to form the green body. This process is repeated until the complete part is printed. After the complete printing process is finished the parts have to be removed from the “powder cake” meaning the surrounding loose but densified powder. To improve the removal of the excess powder from the green body often brushes or a blasting gun with air pressure are used.

To create a dense metal part the 3D printed green body has to be post-processed in a debinding and sintering process. Similar to the metal injection molding process BJT parts are placed in a high temperature furnace, where the binder is burnt out and the remaining metal particles are sintered together. The sintering results in densification of the 3D printed green body to a metal part with high densities of 97 % to 99,5%, dependent of the material.

Printing Technologies

Metal Binder Jetting

Binder Jetting is a powder based Additive Manufacturing technology in which a liquid polymer binder is selectively deposited onto the powder bed binding the metal particles and forming a green body.

The metal powder is applied to a build platform in a typical layer thickness of 40 µm to 100 µm. Subsequently a modified 2D print head apply a binder selectively onto the powder bed. Depending on machine technology a hardening or curing process of the binder is performed in parallel for each layer and/or at the end of the whole build. During the in-situ curing process a heat source is used to solidify the binder and form a solid polymer – metal powder composite.

Working Principle of Binder Jetting

Material Extrusion

Binder Jetting is a powder based Additive Manufacturing technology in which a liquid polymer binder is selectively deposited onto the powder bed binding the metal particles and forming a green body.

The metal powder is applied to a build platform in a typical layer thickness of 40 µm to 100 µm. Subsequently a modified 2D print head apply a binder selectively onto the powder bed. Depending on machine technology a hardening or curing process of the binder is performed in parallel for each layer and/or at the end of the whole build. During the in-situ curing process a heat source is used to solidify the binder and form a solid polymer – metal powder composite.

Working Principle of Binder Jetting

Mold Slurry Deposition

Binder Jetting is a powder based Additive Manufacturing technology in which a liquid polymer binder is selectively deposited onto the powder bed binding the metal particles and forming a green body.

The metal powder is applied to a build platform in a typical layer thickness of 40 µm to 100 µm. Subsequently a modified 2D print head apply a binder selectively onto the powder bed. Depending on machine technology a hardening or curing process of the binder is performed in parallel for each layer and/or at the end of the whole build. During the in-situ curing process a heat source is used to solidify the binder and form a solid polymer – metal powder composite.

Working Principle of Binder Jetting

Metal Selective Laser Sintering

Binder Jetting is a powder based Additive Manufacturing technology in which a liquid polymer binder is selectively deposited onto the powder bed binding the metal particles and forming a green body.

The metal powder is applied to a build platform in a typical layer thickness of 40 µm to 100 µm. Subsequently a modified 2D print head apply a binder selectively onto the powder bed. Depending on machine technology a hardening or curing process of the binder is performed in parallel for each layer and/or at the end of the whole build. During the in-situ curing process a heat source is used to solidify the binder and form a solid polymer – metal powder composite.

Working Principle of Binder Jetting