Joining a growing list of launches and debuts at this year's Formnext, ceramic 3D printing specialist Lithoz will unveil the latest developments in its multi-material additive manufacturing technology.
Visitors can expect the first public outing of its CeraFab Multi 2M30 printer alongside a series of multi-functional parts. The Austrian company, which our Sam Davies recently spent time with at the 2023 AM Ceramics Conference, says the machine is capable of producing functional parts with different material combinations such as ceramic with metal, ceramic with polymer, or even different ceramics. In a single print run, opposing material properties can combined, including those within one single printed layer, to allow for different capabilities such as conductive and insulating properties.
We asked the company a few questions about what visitors can expect to see in Frankfurt.
This year, Lithoz is showing its multi-material 3D printing capabilities. Tell us about the unique proposition this brings to the AM market.
At Formnext we will show our multi-material printer CeraFab 2M30 to the public for the very first time. And this premiere will be flanked by many multi-material parts. Our technology meshes the LCM technology’s talent to create highly complex structures and geometries by the possibility to use not only one, but two materials to create next-generation multifunctional parts. Technically, this is made possible by using two separate rotating vats in one printer, moving over the projecting system as needed, curing the respective layer. The materials can not only be combined layer by layer, but also within one single layer to realize parts with perfect gradual variation in material composition.
The material choice can be either two different ceramics, or the same ceramic material printed at different porosities. But the most thrilling aspect of this machine is that it also combines ceramic with metal or with polymer, which at this precision and complexity level makes it a unique system proposition to the market so far.
In just one print run, entirely opposing material properties, such as conductive versus insulating or magnetic versus non-magnetic, can be flexibly combined in one single multifunctional part. That does not only drastically expand the possibilities in part design but has the potential to substitute time-consuming multi-stage production processes in the industry and also in the medical sector.
You're offering a 'touch and feel' experience. Who or what industries should come and see these parts?
This close-up experience is a must-see at Formnext for everyone from industry, medical and academia who is involved in the construction of multifunctional parts. There will be many fascinating multi-material parts to be closely examined outside of the showcases as we really want to make visitors feel the magic of this technology to create next-generation functionally graded components or materials. Anyone working on this multi-material printer today has the creation of entirely new next-gen multifunctional parts in their hands.
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Lithoz has the highest total number of technical ceramic 3D printers installed worldwide installed. What do you think has been key to that success?
Our LCM technology has evolved to level of precision that makes it a reliable key technology for its users. This widely known quality and our way to actively support customers in their innovation have formed a strong foundation of business. Beyond that, we have successfully scaled up LCM technology to the highest industrial productivity requirements, as a consequence, we’ve simply had more and more multiple-machine deals signed in recent years.
Anything else visitors should look out for on the Lithoz booth?
Definitely the many industrial parts on display showing how fast LCM technology is making progress in terms of building “ceramic AM factories”. Whenever metals reach their limits, ceramics can be the solution to unlock an application’s hidden efficiencies. There will be a display packed with such industrial parts, serially produced in thousands of units per year by our customers Bosch Advanced Ceramics, Steinbach or SiNAPTIC in similar designs, which perfectly give proof of our productivity track records.
Read more:
A decade of Lithoz: From 3D printing start-up to ceramics mass production
