Delivering higher resilience, greater snapback and stronger tear resistance for additively manufactured industrial and consumer products
Düsseldorf, Germany, and Ventura, CA – Nexa3D, the maker of ultrafast polymer 3D printers, announced today in partnership with Henkel, the commercial availability of xFLEX 475, a category leading soft rubber material that is ideal for the production of additively manufactured industrial and consumer products.
Within the high growth elastomers market, customers can now access this industrial strength material for applications that require resilience, snap back and tear resistance. These include pipes and manifolds, handles, and grips, seals, and gaskets or sportswear and footwear midsoles. This material also boasts an impressive up to 150 per cent elongation at failure and an excellent energy return of up to 50 per cent. The new xFLEX 475 material comes in two colors; black, and white and is immediately available through Nexa3D’s growing network of resellers.
Nexa3D’s expanding collaboration with Henkel leverages both companies’ proven capabilities to fast-track additive manufacturing towards mass production of functional parts across multiple industries, leveraging the productivity advantage of its ultrafast NXE 400 3D printer. No other manufacturing process offers as many possibilities for greater design agility, supply chain resiliency and ultrafast implementation at every phase of the product lifecycle. Combining Nexa3D’s productivity with Henkel’s rapidly expanding suite of functional polymers, makes it possible for customers to manufacture a wider range of parts.
“Productivity and performance for volume production applications can only be maximized when manufacturers have access to both ultrafast 3D printer technology and advanced polymers,” explained Kevin McAlea, Chief Operating Officer at Nexa3D. “Historically, during prototyping, manufacturers could 3D print aesthetically pleasing models, but they were not durable. On the other hand, they could create functional parts that did not match the aesthetic requirements of production parts. We don’t believe manufacturers should have to compromise any longer. Our close partnership with Henkel allows us to expand our suite of functional photoplastic and photoelastic materials, so customers can produce functional prototypes and volume production parts that have both an attractive surface finish and the durability they require.”
“Henkel’s portfolio of photoplastic and photoelastic materials are tailored to the high throughput of the NXE 400 ultrafast 3D printer, allowing design and manufacturing engineers to achieve the best results with both rapid prototyping and mass production,” explained Simon Mawson, Senior Vice President and Global Head of 3D Printing at Henkel. “We plan to further strengthen our collaboration with the Nexa3D team and quickly expand our materials portfolio to help make rapid prototyping and mass production of functional parts more accessible.”
For more information on Nexa3D and its high performance 3D printing materials, visit nexa3d.com like on Facebook, or follow on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
About Henkel
Henkel operates
globally with a well-balanced and diversified portfolio. The company holds
leading positions with its three business units in both industrial and consumer
businesses thanks to strong brands, innovations, and technologies. Henkel
Adhesive Technologies is the global leader in the adhesives market – across all
industry segments worldwide. In its Laundry & Home Care and Beauty Care
businesses, Henkel holds leading positions in many markets and categories around
the world. Founded in 1876, Henkel looks back on more than 140 years of
success. In 2019, Henkel reported sales of more than 20 billion euros and
adjusted operating profit of more than 3.2 billion euros. Henkel employs more
than 52,000 people globally – a passionate and highly diverse team, united by a
strong company culture, a common purpose to create sustainable value and shared
values. As a recognized leader in sustainability, Henkel holds top positions in
many international indices and rankings. Henkel’s preferred shares are listed
in the German stock index DAX. For more information, please visit
www.henkel.com.
About Nexa3D
Nexa3D is passionate
about digitizing supply chain sustainably. The company makes ultrafast polymer
3D printers, that deliver 20X productivity advantage, affordable for
professionals and businesses of all sizes. The company’s photoplastic printers
are powered by its proprietary Lubricant Sublayer Photo-curing (LSPc) and its thermoplastic
printers are powered by Quantum Laser Sintering (QLS). The company’s partnerships with world-class
material suppliers unlocks the full potential of additively manufactured
polymers for volume production. The company’s NexaX proprietary software
platform optimizes the entire production cycle through process interplay
algorithms to ensure part performance and production consistency, while
minimizing material usage and waste, reducing energy and carbon footprints. For
more information, please visit www.nexa3d.com.
Source: Nexa3D
