Rapidia to demo water-based metal 3D printing system at RAPID + TCT

"We saw an opportunity to create a completely new process that is office-friendly, eliminates chemical solvents, and speeds up production."

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Vancouver start-up, Rapidia Inc. is set to demo its water-based metal 3D printing technology at RAPID + TCT next week.

Visitors to Detroit’s Cobo Center will be able to see the Rapidia system in action, which builds parts using a water-based metal paste from two independent print-heads and solvent-free two-step process to take parts directly from the printer to sintering furnace without the need for a debinding step commonly found in similar 'bind-and-sinter' processes.

The system is said to incorporate a number of novel features including the ability to produce internal structures and complex assemblies by water-bonding them together before sintering. The process promises print speeds up to twice as fast as competing bound-metal and laser-based processes along with reduced operating costs and material usage thanks to a proprietary evaporative polymer support technology.

“The Rapidia team has developed a completely solvent-free process that quickly and affordably prints high quality metal parts using a system that is practical to use in a normal office,” said Rapidia founder Dan Gelbart. “While metal 3D printing systems based on metal injection moulding techniques have made great advances in recent years, we saw an opportunity to create a completely new process that is office-friendly, eliminates chemical solvents, and speeds up production.”

The compact printer, which features a build volume of 200 x 280 x 200 mm, and sintering furnace have been designed for safe production of prototype and end-use metal parts in a regular office environment. The manufacturer claims the machine’s pricing equates to around 1/10th of the cost of a full laser sintering installation and is competitive with conventional three-stage bound-metal processes.

Rapidia will demo the technology at RAPID + TCT on Booth #533.

RAPID + TCT takes place on 20-23 May at the Cobo Center in Detroit. Register here to attend and follow @TheTCTMagazine or head to our dedicated RAPID + TCT news section for more updates.