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What it takes to ‘go big’ with 3D printing

The developer of a gel-based 3D printer credits the material for allowing high build speeds

additive manufacturing

The Massivit 5000 3D printer lays down gel having the consistency of toothpaste, allowing it to build large parts quickly. Images: Massivity

A pair of large-scale 3D printers—one recently launched and the other slated for introduction later this year—work at unprecedented speeds, thanks mainly to a proprietary gel-based printing material with the viscosity of toothpaste.

So says Erez Zimerman, CEO of Massivit 3D Printing Technologies, a developer of large-volume industrial 3D printing systems. Founded in 2013, the Lod, Israel, company sells printers based on its patented Gel Dispensing Printing (GDP) technology. Massivit bills GDP as the world’s fastest technology for the production of large-volume parts.

“Other large-scale 3D printers are based on FDM [fused deposition modeling] technology that has [existed] for 30 years. They are very slow,” Zimerman said. “Our concept was to use a gel-based material with high viscosity and cure it immediately with a UV LED lamp. This is how we managed to break the glass ceiling of speed.”

In the process, the company’s photopolymer gels are dispensed at high speeds and then cured instantly into solid layers with a 360-degree UV light system. The viscous gel “allows us to lay down material in thicker layers, which helps the speed,” explained Ido Eylon, Massivit’s vice president of global sales and marketing.

In addition, the gel has a surface tension that allows printing with almost no support. “We can literally print a ceiling or roof without any supports,” Zimerman said. This also saves time during the printing process, as well as saving on materials and costs associated with creating and removing support structures.

The instantly curing gel also can be used to print sturdy and support-free hollow structures, Zimerman noted. So if users need to run wires or cables inside hollow parts, they don’t have to remove internal supports first.

Massivit’s 3D printing materials include translucent Dimengel 100 and Dimengel 90, which Eylon describes as a multipurpose material meant to be a cost-effective option for a variety of additive manufacturing applications.

Unmatched Throughput

The company’s newest material is Dimengel 110, a photopolymeric acrylic gel developed for engineering applications that require higher precision and accuracy. It was developed for use with the new Massivit 5000, a machine that prints photopolymer parts, prototypes, and molds measuring up to 57 by 44 by 70 in. for the automotive, rail, and marine industries.

With maximum printing speeds of about 12 in./sec. in the linear direction and 13.7 in./hr. along the Z-axis, the Massivit 5000 is said to be capable of up to 30 times the throughput of competitive machines. For example, Zimerman said the 5000 can print a car bumper in roughly 14 to 20 hours, a job that would probably take six or seven days with other printing technologies.The machine offers two new printing modes: fast and high definition. Fast mode, which prints thicker layers, is used to maximize throughput. When printing layers 1.5 mm thick, its Z-axis print speed is even faster than the advertised maximum of 13.7 in./hr., Zimerman said.

In HD mode, on the other hand—when dimensional precision is critical—the 5000 prints layers down to 500 microns thick. HD combines a thinner dispensing tip, a new curing mechanism, and the properties of Dimengel 110, which “behaves better during printing,” according to Eylon.

3d printing

With Massivit’s Gel Dispensing Printing technology, photopolymer gels are dispensed from a nozzle at high speeds and then cured instantly into solid layers with a 360-degree UV light system.

During the build process, the printer’s software can modify parameters such as resolution and layer height. So parts of a structure that need to be extremely precise can be printed with a higher resolution than the rest of the object.

The 5000 also features a dual-material system that lets users simultaneously print two parts with two different printheads and two materials. The printheads can also be set to different resolutions. This allows one part, for example, to be printed more quickly while the other is printed more precisely.

Tooling Transformation

Though not yet on the market, Massivit’s other new additive manufacturing system is designed to meet the tooling requirements of the automotive, aerospace, marine, and energy industries, which require large parts made of composite materials. Production of large tools and molds for composite parts tends to be slow, expensive, and labor-intensive. Massivit is seeking to change all that with what it calls cast-in-motion (CIM) technology.

CIM tech is what drives the Massivit 10000, a machine equipped with one printhead and one dispensing head. The forming pattern is 3D-printed with a UV-curable gel. To create the desired tool, the other head simultaneously dispenses a resin—one of a variety of dual-component thermoset engineering materials that meet the application’s mechanical and thermal requirements.

The result of the process is a double-layer shell surrounding the resin mold. When dipped in plain water, the external layers fall off, leaving the mold ready for use.

Compared to conventional alternatives, the Massivit 10000 slashes mold production time by 80%, reduces manual labor by up to 90%, and significantly lowers tool costs, Massivit claims. Early adopters are currently working with the company to get the machine ready for the market.

“We’re bringing a digital revolution to a space that really needs it,” Eylon said.

About the Author

William Leventon

(609) 926-6447

William Leventon is a freelance writer specializing in technology, engineering, manufacturing, and industrial processes.