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Thermoplastic films can be processed much more efficiently using 3D printing rather than filaments. This is the result of a new development that Covestro is showing at the Formnext trade fair from 19 to 22 November 2019 in Frankfurt am Main. It is part of a wide range of additive manufacturing products, presented by the company at Booth E11 in Hall 12.1.
“The throughput of a print head for films is significantly higher than that of a print head for filaments,” explains Jonas Kuenzel, technical development for additive manufacturing. “In addition, the production of the films is more cost-effective than filament production, and their storage requires less space. Compared to the standard filament production, extruded films also provide a higher precision, with virtually no deviations in film thickness. The use of films also opens up completely new possibilities for the combination of materials.”
Customers can benefit from Covestro's extensive experience in film processing. The company has developed a special print head for additive manufacturing using these semi-finished products, which can easily replace a conventional print head. The film passes through a cooled area into a heating zone, where it melts under the influence of the supplied thermal energy and becomes liquid. As usual, the melt is discharged via a defined nozzle geometry and processed into the product.
