Leveraging their respective chemical expertise and technological innovations, the two companies have teamed up to pivot toward making FDM 3D printing a viable industry end-use option. And it all begins with Essentium’s FlashFuse tech.

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As a means of prototyping, 3D printing is extremely useful. Economical and quick compared to traditional tooling and modeling processes, FDM has it’s place. However, for some the material properties are not good enough for end use.

Both BASF and Essentium believe that FDM printing materials are lacking in durability for such purposes. So, in an attempt to change this the two are collaborating to create a new breed of robust polymers for use in FDM printing.

Kara Noack, Head of BASF’s 3D printing business in North America, said:

“BASF is committed to advancing 3D printing to the next level across all major additive manufacturing technologies. I am confident that our collaboration with Essentium will enable the creation of 3D printed functional parts and make the technology accessible to a broader range of industrial customers.”

Check out the video below to find out more about the partnership and what each company has to offer:

Benefits of BASF and Essentium Partnership

With a long history in chemicals and plastics, BASF brings a huge catalogue of experience to this new paring. Meanwhile, Essentium’s role in all this lies in the company’s experience developing FDM printing. Specifically, Essentium’s FlashFuse technology is at the heart of this new effort by the two companies.

In brief, FlashFuse is an electric welding process. In it, Essentium’s proprietary filament — coated in electrically responsive nanomaterial — reacts to a charge during the printing process, bonding the layers stronger than if they were printed without.

Because of this fusing process, the strength of a print along its Z-axis increases greatly. Working in parallel with the FDM process, the system is compatible with many open systems.

With the solution to Z-axis strength down pat, it appears that the partnership is aiming toward leveraging BASF’s expertise with plastics to develop stronger polymers for use in filament.

On this path, we can foresee FDM plastic prints that rival SLS for durability. Add to that the additional benefits of FDM like printing with different material types and colors, and perhaps BASF and Essentium are on to a winning combination.

 

Source: TCT Magazine