Cases

3D printed tooling

Tooling is an essential part of the manufacturing process as it involves designing and engineering the tools that are necessary to manufacture parts or components. For many years the only process available to create injection molded parts for testing and design verification was to “soft-tool” using machined aluminum. The cost involved in producing machined aluminum tools and the typical lead-times involved are often expensive and can take weeks.

Now more than ever, engineers are turning to 3D printed tooling to replace traditional techniques to reduce production time and costs. Tools can be 3D printed using DSM Additive Manufacturing's Somos^® PerFORM in just a few days compared to weeks, so product designs and modifications can be tested and verified quickly, ultimately leading to faster time to market. Molds created with Somos PerFORM have a high level of surface smoothness and detail along with high heat resistance and impact strength, allowing for the development of complex molds for various applications and the ability to injection mold with multiple materials.

Somos PerFORM is now available via 3D Hubs, an online service for ordering custom 3D printed and CNC machined parts, where users upload their files to get instant quotes from local service providers. “The collaboration with Somos on 3D printed tooling further expands our network of manufacturing services and product offering,” says Bram de Zwart, CEO 3D Hubs. “We are always targeting to offer our customers cutting edge materials and service. Adding Somos PerFORM to our portfolio expands what our customers can do and allows them to create high quality 3D printed tools.”

Black Dyneema^® Diamond Technology

Dyneema^® has been the material of choice for cut resistant gloves for more than 20 years with its leading combination of reliable cut protection performance, enhanced user comfort and dexterity, and durability.

Black Dyneema Diamond Technology builds upon the Dyneema Diamond Technology platform, already widely recognized as the world’s most advanced cut resistant fiber range. This innovation leverages DSM’s unique, patented process to permanently embed deep, rich color directly into the fiber that lasts the lifetime of protective gloves, sleeves or other products made from Black Dyneema Diamond Technology.

Black Dyneema Diamond Technology achieves high cut protection levels in accordance with EN388 standards. As such, gloves made with Black Dyneema Diamond Technology can provide maximum protection with neither the discomfort of steel fibers, nor the brittleness and short protection lifespan of fiberglass. Thus gloves retain comfort properties such as thinness, softness and cool-to-the-touch feel, making them much more likely to be worn.

Abrasive brush monofilaments

Abrasive brush tools are used in a wide variety of industries for cleaning, deburring, structuring and finishing applications. They are generally made using an array of abrasive monofilaments consisting of a polymer to which an abrasive material has been added. The performance of the abrasive brush tool depends to a large extent on the material properties and performance of the polymer employed. Key requirements include continuous use temperature, abrasion resistance, bending stiffness and often UV resistance.

Hahl-Pedex is the world leader in abrasive monofilaments and together with DSM has developed AbraMaXX™, a series of abrasive monofilaments based on DSM’s bio-based EcoPaXX^® Polyamide 410. EcoPaXX has a considerably higher melting point than more traditional polymers while maintaining an equal abrasion resistance and higher bending stiffness. This means that the new abrasive monofilaments can be used at higher temperatures, leading to a higher abrasion index. A higher abrasion index means longer brush tool lifetimes and more removed metal per brush tool weight.