Airwolf 3D
HydroFill Water-Soluble Support material
Designed to be used with any brand of compatible FFF 3D printer, the new filament can withstand high temperatures, before strongly bonding with ABS and PLA plastics and rinsing away with water.
3D printer manufacturer, Airwolf 3D will showcase its HydroFill Water-Soluble Support at CES 2017, the world’s first highly effective washable support material for large ABS and PLA parts.
Designed to be used with any brand of compatible Fused Filament Fabrication 3D printer, the new filament can withstand high temperatures, before strongly bonding with ABS and PLA plastics and rinsing away with water. Airwolf 3D believes this will allow 3D printer users to create parts that were previously impossible.
Prior to the invention of HydroFill, 3D printer users have been restricted to printing only certain types of designs because there were limited support material options available. The most basic method of employing support is to use the same material that is used for the object being printed. Here, the support is erected similarly to scaffolding on a building and props up any steeply angled overhangs. While this type of support is effective, it is often messy, time-consuming and difficult to remove by mechanical breakage or trimming.
Some objects have proved impossible to print because, while the internal geometry of the part requires internal support, the outer portion of the design makes it extremely difficult to access the inside of the object to remove its internal support material. Many have tried to solve this problem with support structures that are supposed to dissolve in water or various chemicals, but none have proven successful and some even dangerous.
Airwolf 3D HydroFill objects
This puzzle cube was printed in ABS with HydroFill Water Soluble Support.
Yet Airwolf have found a solution that not only works, but is neither messy nor dangerous.
“Since we started Airwolf 3D over four and a half years ago, our customers have been asking for a soluble support option that truly works,” said Airwolf 3D Co-Founder and Lead Designer Erick Wolf. “We finally formulated the first real, water-soluble filament in the world and one of the things that makes HydroFill really unique is that it works beautifully when making large ABS parts. Even when exposed to high temperatures, HydroFill maintains its structural integrity while still rinsing away easily with water.”
The HydroFill Water Soluble Support was developed at Airwolf 3D in conjunction with Prof. Miodrag Micic Sc.D., Ph.D., a department chairman and professor of engineering design technology at Cerritos College in Norwalk, CA.
“HydroFill is a proprietary, polymer-blend formulation that is ideal for printing soluble toolings as well as rafts for large-surface-area parts,” said Prof. Micic. “It is the first viable soluble support material in the world that dissolves in clean water without the use of any caustic chemicals, detergents, or solvents and without the use of special equipment like ultrasonic or heated baths. HydroFill is a universal, green chemistry solution.”
Airwolf 3D are debuting the soluble support material at CES 2017 in Booth #42838 of the 3D Printing Marketplace sponsored by TCT.
