In March of this year, Spain-based
BCN3D Technologies announced that it had created a new 3-D printing technology using high-viscosity resins. Developed over the course of the last three years, the patented Viscous Lithography Manufacturing (VLM) has received a high level of interest worldwide, with more than 500 companies registering to become early adopters of the development of this ecosystem.
BCN3D has responded to the demand by partnering with Arkema and Henkel to obtain material properties and applications otherwise unreachable with other resin-based technologies, and by revealing its commitment to delivering VLM systems to 20 of the companies that have signed up to its Technology Adoption Program, in the spring of next year.
BCN3D began rolling out local operations in North America in late 2021, and in April use cases with VLM were publicly presented during the
Rapid+TCT show in Detroit. The initial premise for launching the Technology Adoption Program was to orientate the go-to-market through gathering market information across a wide scope of vertical markets.
This way, BCN3D is able to pay specific attention to the real needs of customers, especially when it comes to those within manufacturing, automotive, engineering, dental, medical, jewelry, product design, 3-D printing services and footwear.
The diversity of the early adopters brings BCN3D some valuable insights: current AM limitations can be detected with precision; industry and material trends can be identified; and the company has personal contact with the engineers operating the 3-D printing labs in a variety of companies. VLM’s versatility makes it capable of covering the entire fabrication life-cycle, from product design to fabrication. BCN3D believes that the benefits will be made extremely apparent in prototyping and end-use parts.
VLM was devised to simultaneously accomplish the three main pillars of providing superb part performance, a high-production capacity, and accessible and frictionless operation, thus unlocking complete manufacturing autonomy. Since all manufacturers equipped with this technology can experience full control over every stage in their production processes with AM solutions, the findings from the Technology Adoption Program point to some interesting applications that are on the rise; these include low-emission end-use parts, elastomeric components, biocompatible parts, and the mass-customisation of high-temperature and high-resistance parts.
Furthermore, multi-property opportunities in the medical sector range from the need of different biocompatibility requirements in dental, to complex combinations of rigid and flexible parts in prosthetics and orthosis.
Last but not least, regarding the mass production of functional parts, the obvious applications include nesting strategies with water-soluble supports without manual polishing or overmoulding solutions. Among this wide variety of applicants are those participating in material development. These elite AM users are testing and furthering new ways to utilise the high viscosity resins that make VLM so unique.
Xavier M Faneca, CEO of BCN3D, said: “The overwhelming initial reception for our most recent innovation has surpassed our expectations and set the tone for the onset of the distribution of our first VLM commercial systems. We have been able to hone in on what really matters to each individual company by gathering real, tangible information from experienced engineers. We are aware of special interest regarding multi-material, and thus multi-property and water-soluble applications. Of course, functional materials also hold huge potential.”