Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, is now well established for many applications and its uses are constantly expanding. The SKZ is a competent partner in this field and offers comprehensive services for the industry – from reverse engineering and component design to material formulation, component production and testing.

Medical technology is a broad field
In the design phase, it is essential to incorporate the manufacturing constraints and degrees of freedom into the design of components by using the right combination of modeling approach and strategy and the software used. A broad area of application is medical technology. For the production of patient-specific implants, orthoses and prostheses, the patient’s body parts can be digitized with handheld 3D scanners and used as a basis for the design with special software. Stationary 3D scanners can be used to digitize components for quality assurance or as a basis for parametric design. Depending on the application, a wide range of CAD tools can be used to efficiently design, digitize and convert physical components into CAD models.

Custom formulations produced
SKZ has state-of-the-art technology for developing new materials. Customized formulations can be produced using various compounders and filament extruders and converted into powder or filament form. Subsequent material characterization can be performed using the extensive analytical equipment. It is also possible to produce resins that can be formulated for specific applications and customized by adding additives. New formulations and small batches can be produced to order.

Different processes possible
Depending on the requirements of the parts and samples, different processes such as powder bed (LS), resin (DLP/SLA) and extrusion-based (FLM, CFF, AKF, FGF) are used on the industrial production systems, each with its own advantages and disadvantages in terms of achievable part properties. Materials from standard to high performance plastics can be processed and components of different sizes can be produced. Resin-based processes can also produce components in the micrometer range. SKZ also offers process analysis to investigate and optimize the manufacturing process for quality assurance, efficiency and repeatability of the manufactured parts.

Several universal machines available
Inspection of additive manufactured components is a critical step in ensuring that the manufactured components meet the required quality criteria. Due to the process-specific nature of manufacturing, components have different properties depending on how they are produced. In the state-of-the-art laboratories at SKZ, for example, CT scans can be used to detect defects in the component, or surface scanners can be used to determine the surface quality. In addition, various universal machines are available to determine mechanical properties.

The experts at SKZ are available for inquiries and advice on the services.