Materials currently available for 3D printing, such as resins, alloys, polymers, ceramics, plastics, etc. With ACEO® Imagine Series 100, WACKER became the first company to industrially produce elastomers through 3D printing. Before the first revolutionary technology was introduced, silicones were not able to perform 3D printing. Today, 100% silicone has been used in modeling or small batch production, which has benefited many industries. What is special about '100% silicone' or 'true elastomer' in the 3D printing industry?
In the interview question and answer form, I will share with you some of the insights of Dr. Bernd Pachaly from the WACKER ACEO® expert team in Germany on the application of silicone materials to 3D printing technology, to help you unveil the mystery of silicone 3D printing.
Dr Bernd Pachaly
Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Technical University of Berlin, postdoctoral research at the University of Wisconsin in 1984. He has many years of research experience in the field of silicones. In 1985, he joined the Wacker Chemical Group. He has served as the head of the core R&D department, the R&D manager of the silicone business. Head of the business team of the Silicone Engineering Department. In 2013, he took over the silicone innovation business and has been responsible for the silicone 3D printing project since 2017.
Q1. Dr. Pachaly, what is silicone?
A: Silicone is a generic name for a polymer whose main chain is composed of alternating silicon oxide atoms. Among these materials, silicone rubber is an important member, which is composed of liquid silicone rubber or solid silicon. Rubber is made by a variety of cross-linking reactions.
Q2. What type of silicone is used in ACEO®?
A: ACEO® uses liquid silicone rubber. This material has long been known for its wide application in injection molding. As one of WACKER's brands, ACEO® has benefited from WACKER's more than 70 years of silicone expertise. Knowledge, continuous development of such silicones to meet specific application requirements.
The main components of silicone rubber are silicone polymers, cross-linking agents, reinforcing fillers and catalysts. These materials are cross-linked with high-viscosity mixtures to form rubber. No organic or copolymer is used, and the finished product is real. Rubber (100% silicone), not 'rubber-like' material. In addition, this cross-linking reaction is a platinum-catalyzed hydrosilylation reaction with no by-products or residues.
Q3. What is special about 100% silicone compared to other types of rubber?
A: What makes synthetic rubber unreachable is that silicones have unique chemical and mechanical properties, such as:
Flexibility and flexibility
Weather resistance
Wide application temperature range
Radiation resistance
Biological inertia
In general, silicone rubber is biocompatible and meets food application requirements. Because of its stability, it does not require any additives or stabilizers.
Q4. What are the advantages of silicone 3D printing compared to silicone injection molding?
A: Silicone 3D printing can directly convert digital models into real objects without the use of any tools or molds, reducing production costs, especially for modeling or small batch production.
Another advantage of silicone 3D printing is the savings in production time: the process cycle can be significantly reduced; and the product can be quickly improved during product development.
Each 3D printing unit can be customized to meet the needs of the dental or dental care industry, making it easy to create anatomical models that simulate human tissue.
ACEO® offers custom silicones for specific application requirements
Q5. Which applications and industries can benefit from 3D printed 100% silicone?
A: In the industrial fields such as transportation or mechanical equipment, rapid modeling, small batch production and on-demand production of spare parts are very important.
In the medical field, silicone 3D printing can be used to create customized applications such as dental clips or anatomical models, and ACEO® products can also be used to customize treatment according to the specific conditions of patients, thus further promoting medical education and surgery. The formulation of the previous plan.
WACKER has more than 70 years of silicone expertise and technology, so each process meets the highest industry standards