Today, leading manufacturer of 3D printing solutions BCN3D launched a new 3D printing technology to advance alongside its FFF solutions: Viscous Lithography Manufacturing (VLM) TM. This ground-breaking technology was derived to specifically address BCN3D’s vision of unleashing manufacturing autonomy, where all manufacturers can benefit from full control over every step of their production processes with AM solutions using highly viscous resins. .
VLM comes as a breakthrough of 3 years of dedication from the BCN3D R&D team as a revolutionary way to overcome bottlenecks such as initial investment in money or space, sub-standard mechanical properties or the inability to produce large batches. It is thanks to the new perspective of using high viscosity resins for better mechanical properties, in combination with this huge leap forward in terms of productivity and affordability, which finally satisfies all demands to unlock autonomy. Manufacturing.
“If 3D printing is to be the future of manufacturing, and what drives us towards local production, customization, supply chain control and sustainability, all industry players should push for this. direction. At BCN3D, we believe that today is the first step to achieving this goal with the new Viscous Lithography Manufacturing (VLM) technology. We want to show 3D printing in a new light so that it becomes the backbone of manufacturing,” said Xavier M. Faneca, CEO of BCN3D.
Highly viscous resins for superb part performance VLM is a patented lithography-based 3D printing process that laminates thin layers of high-viscosity resins onto a transparent transfer film, producing high-performance parts quickly and affordably . What sets VLM apart from other resin technologies on the market is its ability to process resins 50 times more viscous than the industry standard.
The mechanical system allows the resin to be laminated on both sides of the film, allowing strategies to be implemented to speed up printing times or to combine different resins to obtain multi-material parts and support structures that are easy to remove. Without strict low viscosity constraints, chemical companies gain the freedom to formulate, as a whole new set of ingredients and modifiers can be added into the resin to achieve the desired effect on thermal and mechanical properties. VLM processes resins that achieve 3 times the amount of impact strength for rigid materials and a 200% increase in tear strength over industry standard formulations.
Specialty materials company Arkema has been part of the process, through a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) in which the two companies co-develop new materials by capitalizing on the singularities of VLM to achieve properties that cannot be achieved with other resin-based 3Ds. printing processes. As a key global player in the 3D printing industry and a pioneer in the design of high performance photo-curable resins, Arkema has used its decades of experience to ensure that resins for VLM are of the highest quality. . “With VLM’s proven ability to handle highly viscous resins, we see great prospect for developing new building blocks and enabling breakthrough formulations to meet application requirements that have not yet been achieved with existing photopolymerization systems,” said Hélène Egret. , European 3D Market Manager at Arkema.
BCN3D has also partnered with Prodrive, a world renowned motorsport and advanced technology company and one of the first in the world to test VLM technology. They assembled end-use parts made with VLM mounted directly on off-road cars. “VLM technology seemed to combine all the best features of different additive manufacturing technologies, and even offered some unique advantages. For Prodrive, materials are the key to making durable end-use parts. VLM allows us to continue to use the engineering materials we know and love, but instead at a significantly finer resolution in all three directions, and the material is much more consistent, resulting in finished parts behaving much more like a traditional injection molded part,” said Callum Harper, design engineer at Prodrive.
Using a light source consisting of UV light and an LCD screen, VLM provides consistent time per layer whether we print one or 100 pieces at a time. Plus, since it’s not limited by tank size, complex temperature, or delicate components, all that’s needed to scale is a larger LCD. This combination of fast layer time and large surface area makes VLM the most productive additive manufacturing solution on the market using viscous resins.
BCN3D’s partnership with automotive glass manufacturer Saint Gobain perfectly illustrates these benefits in a use case where 7000 positioning devices were manufactured in 7 days with VLM, for €0.79 per part and a subsequent annual savings of 70 000 €. “The VLM technology has allowed us to see significant improvements in the future. Our main objective is to reduce our dependence on external mechanization suppliers and do it in-house with technologies such as VLM. This is what would give us the power of manufacturing autonomy,” said Alberto Rodriguez Fernandez, World Class Manufacturing Manager at Saint Gobain.
There’s no denying that 3D printing has evolved from a rapid prototyping tool to a clear trend in manufacturing – all it needed was an affordable solution to reach every corner of manufacturing, from small to medium-sized businesses. Unleashing manufacturing autonomy using 3D printing shouldn’t be reserved just for Fortune 500 companies, but for all companies that develop and manufacture concepts or products, in any industry. VLM-based solutions will cost less than $50,000, with a compact footprint, with no dedicated space or critical infrastructure. This low barrier to entry, combined with its large print volume and high throughput, puts the fixed cost of the solution ahead of others. By implementing the use of VLM, the cost per part is significantly lower than powder-based and resin-based technologies.
VLM also uses room temperature single component resin formulations to avoid pot life limitations and speed up prep times. Thanks to its exclusive lamination system, the absence of a resin tank means that no initial investment of resin is necessary. Plus, with VLM, zero waste becomes a reality: designed to filter and recirculate resin, every drop of resin ultimately becomes a printed part. To enable the entire industry to benefit from this breakthrough, BCN3D has designed the Viscous Lithography Manufacturing Technology Adoption Program for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Its new application center will be operated by dedicated AM specialists and will house upcoming VLM-based hardware solutions. Attendees will join Saint Gobain and Prodrive in being the first to experience the new VLM and experience its full potential for themselves with real 3D printed parts and individual attention to their exact printing needs.
In 2021, the company made a passionate commitment to invest in its new FFF hardware portfolio as well as its software solutions, which triggered the acquisition of Astroprint last July and a new logistics center in the United States. BCN3D plans to continue to develop its FFF solutions this year and to invest in new developments. Its new business unit for VLM will lead dedicated resources independent of FFF which will rather coexist alongside it.
