Collaboration will create specialized materials tailor-made for composite-based additive manufacturing
NORTHBROOK, Ill. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — May 24, 2021 — Impossible Objects today announced a joint development agreement with Owens Corning to develop new materials for Impossible Objects’ revolutionary composite-based additive manufacturing (CBAM) process.
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Solder pallets in Carbon Fiber/PEEK and Fiberglass/PEEK produced with the Impossible Objects CBAM-2 printer. These parts, used in electronics manufacturing, must withstand high temperatures and harsh chemicals. They can be produced with CBAM faster and at a fraction of the cost compared to CNC machining. (Photo: Business Wire)
The collaboration with Owens Corning, a global building and industrial materials leader, will enable the production of stronger parts at costs lower than other 3D printing processes. Fiberglass composites boast key advantages for 3D-printed parts, including substantially greater strength-to-weight ratios compared to aluminum, lower costs, superior high-temperature performance and greater chemical resistance. Lowering material cost is important for broadening adoption of additive manufacturing; research has shown that costs of materials used in 3D printing can be higher than traditional manufacturing materials by up to a factor of eight on a per-weight basis.
“Owens Corning is committed to the development of composite materials and their applications,” said Dr. Chris Skinner, Vice President of Strategic Marketing, Composites, Owens Corning. “We seek to be at the forefront of new processing and new applications involving Composites. We have found the Impossible Objects technology and know-how potentially transformative for the conversion of some applications to composites. Because we believe it can be successful and deliver value to the market and our customers, we’ve entered into a joint agreement to support the development further.”
“Our CBAM process is a revolution in 3D printing, with faster speeds, better material properties and wider material selection,” said Robert Swartz, chairman and founder of Impossible Objects. “This collaboration with Owens Corning will allow us to quickly experiment with and refine new materials to significantly lower cost and bring unprecedented options for additive manufacturing.”
Impossible Objects’ proprietary CBAM technology can produce parts up to ten times faster than conventional fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing. By combining high-performance polymers like Nylon and PEEK with carbon fiber and fiberglass nonwoven materials, parts printed with Impossible Objects machines are stronger, lighter, have better dimensional accuracy and have better temperature performance than what’s possible with conventional 3D printing methods. The CBAM process can use a great variety of materials including carbon fiber and fiberglass paired with PEEK, PA 6, PA 12, elastomerics and most other thermoplastics.
By bringing together Impossible Objects’ CBAM process and Owens Corning’s fully integrated glass nonwoven manufacturing capabilities, the joint development agreement will allow the scaling of the CBAM process to industrial scale, enabling it to compete with other high-volume manufacturing methods like injection molding. The CBAM process can eliminate the long lead-times and tooling costs involved in injection molding, while enabling mass customization of parts. CBAM also allows for the combination of parts, resulting in lower assembly costs.
Owens Corning is the latest materials leader to join forces with Impossible Objects to enable the development of the CBAM process. In May 2019, the chemical company BASF entered a collaboration with Impossible Objects to 3D print high-performance carbon fiber-PA6 composite parts for the first time. Also in 2019, TIGER Coatings began work with Impossible Objects for the development of thermoset-based 3D printed composites.
To learn more:
- Watch a video to learn how CBAM works
- Explore the high-performance materials available for use with CBAM
- Request a free sample part from Impossible Objects
About Impossible Objects
Impossible Objects, a 3D printer and materials company, was founded with the belief that materials science inventions would enable 3D printing to revolutionize the world in the same ways that computers and the Internet have revolutionized the way we live, work and play. The company’s composite-based additive manufacturing technology (CBAM) is an entirely new process that is fundamentally different from conventional additive manufacturing technologies. CBAM parts are stronger, lighter, have better temperature performance, and are more durable than other additive manufacturing technologies on the market. For more information, visit www.impossible-objects.com.
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Contact:
Molly Stein for Impossible Objects
molly.stein@archetype.co
https://www.impossible-objects.com/