AIMPLAS and ARBURG partner in research of additive manufacturing

AIMPLAS and ARBURG have started an R&D collaboration that will enable the development of research in the field of materials for additive manufacturing to meet the needs of demanding sectors such as medicine.

ARBURG provides AIMPLAS with the Freeformer 200-3X to test a wide range of materials for applications with high technical requirements. In particular, the Freeformer 200-3X was installed with ARBURG’s own additive manufacturing technology.

In the R&D cooperation, ARBURG will provide the Freeformer 200-3X for AIMPLAS.

This allows the use of a wide range of materials, from commercially available granulates approved for the medical sector (FDA) to biopolymers or polylactide (medical application) through to modified original materials or combinations thereof.

In this way, it is possible to equip the parts with different functionalities such as strength, fracture resistance, reversibility, solubility or waterproofness, which enables the development of parts such as orthoses or absorbable implants for the treatment of bone fractures.

Another advantage of this system is that the properties of the component can be specifically changed by varying the process parameters and this programming can be retained for repetition in the form of small series with the possibility of individual changes.

The Freeformer system will be loaned for one year so that the technology center’s research staff can further develop their tests and experiments to respond to some of the challenges facing the medical sector, such as personalized medicine.