Product spotlight International debut of Arburg’s new freeformer

The Company will be showcasing its new product innovation – the Freeformer 200-3X for the first time at formnext 2018. The entire range of products and solutions can be found at the firm’s booth E70 in Hall 3.1

Injection moulding machine specialist, Arburg is known in the plastics processing industry for its state-of-the-art solutions. This year the German-based company is keen to participate at formnext, the global trade fair for the next generation of manufacturing technologies which is expected to be held in Frankfurt, Germany. At the show, the firm will debut its new and enhanced Freeformer 300-3X machine to the public.

Freeformer 200-3X

The fresh innovation is an upgrade of the former existing machine Freeformer 200-3X. One of the core strengths of this product is that it will process three components by using the Arburg Plastic Freeforming (APF) process, enabling the industrial additive manufacturing of complex functional parts in resilient hard/soft combinations. The Freeformer 300-3X machine boasts of space for larger small-volume batches and can also accommodate 50 per cent wider parts with dimensions of up to 234 x 134 x 200 mm.

Drive and control solutions

Automated handling by Yaskawa

A brand new feature of the product is a two-part build chamber door which enables efficient production. For instance, by using the Freeformer 300-3X, feed hoppers can be refilled during ongoing operation by opening the top half of the door. Also, with the assistance of this new innovation, the heated build chamber only needs to be opened for inserting the part platform and removing the finished parts. The machine is also capable of carrying out automatic opening and closing of the build chamber door which prove beneficial for automating the additive manufacturing process as well as integration of the Freeformer in complete production lines.

Arburg @formnext 2018

At formnext, the company has plans to showcase both its cutting-edge solutions i.e. the Freeformer 200-3X and the Freeformer 300-3X. In addition to this, the firm also plans to exhibit numerous parts including a selection of two and three-component items such as a two-component gripper as a hard/soft combination, cable clips made from PP (Polypropylene), transparent test discs made from PMMA (Poly(methyl methacrylate)) and bellows made from medical TPE-S (Thermoplastic elastomer). All these unique solutions will be displayed at four interactive stations at the event.

Industry trends

Additive manufacturing: The way ahead

The open Freeformer system also enables users to process their own original materials and optimise droplet size as well as process control. The Arburg material database documents qualified standard granulates such as ABS (Terluran GP 35), PA10 (Grilamid TR XE 4010), PC (Makrolon 2805), TPE-U (Elastollan C78 A15) and PP (Braskem CP 393). Further examples include special plastics for specific applications such as medical PLLA (Purasorb PL18, Resomer LR 708) and a PC (Lexan 940) approved for aerospace use. The range of qualified materials is continuously being expanded.

To witness the complete range of innovations by Arburg, do visit their exhibition stand E70 in Hall 3.1 at formnext 2018.

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