More than 80 manufacturers worldwide are now active in developing material print profiles for FFF 3D printing. Ultimaker recently announced. Ultimaker launched the Material Alliance programme in April 2018 to meet the growing demand for 3D printing materials for industrial applications.
A year after starting the Ultimaker Material Alliance Programme, a large group of leading material manufacturers, including BASF, DSM, DuPont, Owens Corning, Arkema, Jabil, Lehmann&Voss&Co., are actively using the Print Profile Assistant. It has been made available by Ultimaker to help them bring a wide range of high-performance filament-based 3D printing materials to the professional market faster. These material print profiles can be downloaded via the marketplace in Ultimaker Cloud.
Material selection is one of the main concerns for engineers during the selection of a manufacturing method. Ultimaker's open materials strategy allows them to use a selection of materials with specific properties, such as heat resistance, shock resistance, chemical resistance, flexibility and robustness, for 3D printing.
"We have enjoyed overwhelming interest in the Ultimaker Material Alliance Programme since its introduction. In just 12 months, we have worked with several multinationals to enable new applications. In doing so, we have achieved fantastic results," says Paul Heiden, senior vice president of Product Management at Ultimaker. "For example, professional users can now choose to use a metal-filled filament that achieves the same aesthetic effect as a more expensive metal system. Another benefit of the programme is that users can now select a material that is safe from electrostatic discharge. Engineers and designers in the electronics industry can thus take full advantage of the benefits of desktop 3D printing."
