Enables the production of rubber-like parts unachievable by traditional manufacturing methods.
SAN DIEGO, CA – October 27, 2020 – 3DElastoPrint is enabled by an elastomeric TPA, co-branded by Evonik and HP — a flexible, high-performance, thermoplastic elastomer optimized specifically for HP’s Multi Jet FusionTM (MJF) 3D printer.
Evonik and HP’s just released TPA material is flexible and lightweight, distinguished by its very low density of 1.01 g/cm³ and a Shore A hardness of 90. This high-performance material is excellently suited for prototypes as well as end-used products that call for high extensibility and energy return, such as sports equipment, automobile components, and end-of-arm tooling.
“We researched this elastomer from Evonik and instantly recognized the massive market potential and its ability to help us provide customers with production-grade parts with no tooling and all of the benefits of 3D printing”, said Jesse Lea, President & CEO of GoProto. “We’re not going after parts we can already produce with conventional methods inexpensively; we are going for the things that haven’t been addressed well before”.
Potential applications include:
Sporting Equipment
Utilizing HP’s powder-bed technology, 3DElastoPrint TPA material allows for exceptionally complex geometries at a fraction of the cost of traditional technologies. With high fatigue resistance, it can be bonded into wearables, footwear, protective gear, eyewear, and a variety of sporting equipment.
Ducting & Bellows
Traditionally, ducting is challenging to produce in low quantities because of the tooling required to produce difficult undercuts, thin walls, and tricky geometry for soft materials. But our 3DElastoPrint service solves these problems with this newly released, highly durable, production-grade, TPA elastomer. The material has high energy return and high fatigue resistance, capable of thousands of flexes. And, due to MJF technology, it is perfect for parts with large undercuts & trapped volumes.
End of Arm Tooling
End-of-arm tooling is at the forefront of “new engineering required” because shapes are often very amorphous, the weight needs to be optimized, and material properties can dramatically affect the performance. There is no room for compromise with “prototype” materials. 3DElastoPrint parts can be latticed, hollow, topology-optimized, and light-weighted works of engineering mastery.
About GoProto
GoProto specializes in quick-turn, on-demand, custom manufacturing. Offering end-to-end solutions for 3D printing / additive manufacturing, CNC machining, sheet metal, cast urethane, injection molding, and finishing. They are a rapid manufacturing company with customer service at their core. They help manufacture parts for product development customers in medical, aerospace, industrial, automotive, and many other industries. They utilize cutting edge technologies, methods, and the very best professionals to deliver 3D printed and conventionally manufactured parts fast, with world-class quality, and at a great value. GoProto’s manufacturing facilities are based in San Diego, California and Melbourne, Australia.
Source: GoProto