Nexa3D Brings to Market High Throughput, Powder Bed Additive Manufacturing Platform

VENTURA, Calif./September 12, 2022 — Nexa3D announced the commercial availability of its new ultrafast Quantum Laser Sintering platform; the QLS 820. With the highest part throughput in its class, the QLS 820 thermoplastic 3D printer is designed from the ground up for higher volume production and higher temperature processing for greater material selection.

“My hat is off to our entire team of determined innovators, passionate engineers, and experienced marketers for bringing to market an industry leading thermoplastic production platform that fully delivers on our ultrafast brand promise,” said Avi Reichental, co-founder, and CEO, Nexa3D. “ We founded Nexa3D with a sole purpose in mind; to digitize supply chain sustainably by making the world’s fastest polymer 3D printers affordable for professionals and businesses of all sizes. As we attend IMTS 2022, we are very proud, that our new QLS 820 is printing at speeds of up to 8 litters per hour, at packing density of up to 20%, delivering orders of magnitude productivity gains without the typical costs and lead-times associated with tooled plastics.”

QLS 820 represents a new class of powder bed technology that combines ultrafast printing with open materials and cloud software platform to deliver production volumes that are orders of magnitude greater than other powder-bed solutions on the market.

At the core of the QLS 820 is Nexa3D’s powerful Quantum Laser Sintering (QLS) print engine consisting of four CO₂ lasers with 100W power each that deliver 4x the print speed of other laser sintering and powder bed fusion technologies. The QLS 820 features, exchangeable build station that operators can use for continuous production during the cooldown process, eliminating production bottlenecks and increasing throughput and over all asset utilization. The entire system is automation ready and designed for 24/7 lights-out operation.

The QLS 820 delivers a polymer-based production alternative to traditional injection molding without the design constraints, costly tooling investments and extended lead-times. The platform works with standard materials such as PA11 and PA12 — direct replacements for injection molding grade materials, and is also compatible with higher-temperature materials, such as PA6, at processing temperatures up to 240 degrees Celsius.

The quad-laser QLS 820 offers print speeds of up to 8L per hour and average packing density of 20%, delivering up to 4x productivity gains over other powder-based polymer 3D printing systems. Coupled with its large build volume of 350 x 350 x 400mm, 50–200-micron Z resolution, and four 100W CO2 lasers, it is the most powerful thermoplastic additive production solution on the market. With the printer’s removable build unit, the QLS 820 is designed for maximum uptime. In a simple switch, users can begin the breakout process and a new build unit can dock with the printer to start printing

The system offers an open and automation-ready platform that is technology-agnostic and adaptable to integrations ranging from MES and ES systems to modular post-processing solutions. The QLS Command Center is a large touchscreen control station, powered by NexaX software, enabling fleet management, print preparation, and real-time printer status and print performance all from a single centralized location. NexaX for QLS also provides more flexibility and ease of use with remote access to QLS systems. A printer fleet can be accessed via the Command Center, a computer, or a mobile device.

A wide-use temperature range, inert processing atmosphere, and an open-source platform allows for printing of many materials including PA 12, PA 11, Polypropylene, PBT, as well as aluminum, glass, and fiber-filled plastics. PA 12 is commercially available at launch, with PA 11, Filled PA 12, and PBT available in Q4 2022.