Posted to News on 23rd Oct 2007, 15:52
Stereolithography material suits rapid manufacturing
Six months after its market introduction, DSM Somos' high-impact SL resin DMX-SL 100 is still drawing crowds - this time at Time Compression Technologies UK rapid product development and rapid manufacturing event, held on 26-27 September 2007.
With over 2000 worldwide visitors and more than 100 exhibits, the show is now considered to be the UK's leading conference and exhibition for product design and manufacturing innovation technologies.
Somos Marketing Manager Eva Montgomery comments: "What makes DMX-SL so exciting to engineers is the extreme durability of the parts it creates. With as much as four times the impact strength of typical 'ABS-like' stereolithography resins, this marks the first time an SL material has been able to match the durability of sintered resins in many applications while still offering SL accuracy and detail resolution."
DMX-SL 100's exceptional performance is due to an innovative chemistry platform that produces SL resins that are stiff yet tough, making them highly suitable for secondary finishing. DMX-SL parts also feature high tensile modulus (2000-2400MPa) and yield characteristics that mimic thermoplastic materials. According to DSM Somos, such performance features bring stereolithography one step closer to direct manufacturing.
Eva Montgomery states: "Other RP technologies that utilise molten or sintered thermoplastics have traditionally been chosen for direct manufacturing when part durability was critical, but with a sacrifice in part aesthetics or dimensional consistency. With DMX-SL, RP users can now have custom-built parts that are durable, accurate and have excellent detail."
DMX-SL is currently available from suppliers throughout the USA and Europe:
UK: Alphaform www.alphaform100.de
France: Cresilas www.cresilas.fr, Groupe Erpro www.erpro.fr
Germany: Gerg Rapid Prototyping www.gerg.de, Alphaform www.alphaform100.de
Belgium: Materialise www.materialise.com
Sweden: Prototal www.prototal.se
