Exclusive Interview with the Henkel LOCTITE Team on its Entry Into the 3D Printing Market

Henkel is a 143-year-old company with over 53,000 employees that is well known for Pritt and Loctite glue, SYOSS shampoos, Sun and Persil detergent as well as Right Guard deodorant. Henkel’s products are available worldwide and they’re usually active in large product categories often selling directly to consumers. The firm, however, has entered the 3D printing market with a flurry of business to business activity and end consumer products. Henkel is working with companies such as EnvisionTEC and Origin on photopolymer resins, has launched its own resins, has 3D printing finishing kits and specialized 3D print finishing machines (which I swear were both ideas I gave them), has opened a new facility and has acquired Molecule Corp. Through their Loctite brand and division, the company is developing and launching products aimed at facilitating 3D printing as well as materials aimed to make it more prevalent. Henkel seems intent to put its considerable weight behind expanding 3D printing applications and industrialization, so we interviewed their 3D printing management team to find out more.

Why is Henkel interested in 3D Printing?

“The 3D printing market is still at the very early stages, and we believe the applications potential is still unlocked. Henkel aims to drive adoption in the rapidly growing market for additive manufacturing beyond prototyping to final parts production.”

What do you have to offer the market?

“We recently announced our new materials platform where we offer innovative building blocks to engineers and designers to realize their ambitions. Manufacturers of 3D printers and system providers that work with us benefit from our unique offering of next generation resins, and we work closely with our industrial customers identifying the applications and the technologies that best fit their needs to drive an additive transformation in their production lines.”

What is different about Henkel’s approach vis a vis other polymer companies?

“We have a strong application know-how across more than 800 industry segments with decades of experience transforming bolts and screws into a chemical bonding set up. Based on that unmatched technological and industrial knowledge, we believe we are the industrial partner with the application know-how to assess and transform current manufacturing processes into digital manufacturing workflows.”

Why is so much of your effort focused on finishing?

“Henkel has an extensive portfolio of high-impact solutions for bonding, cleaning, coating, surface finishing and impregnation of parts produced from standard manufacturing methods. Our solutions are used every day in almost every industry. Even though additive manufacturing technologies rapidly evolve, all current methods require manual operations after the printing to enhance quality, add functionalities and enable the final assembly. Thus, we want to bring this industrial know-how for finishing parts into the additive manufacturing space.”

How would I use your finishing station?

“The dual wash cleaning station consists of two tanks, one for cleaning and one for rinsing. The user screen allows individual set-up values to be entered for cleaning time, agitation speed, and directions. To maintain equipment, removable tanks enable cleaning at the end of each shift. The washer is designed to work with Loctite 3D Printing Cleaner C to ensure the best performance.”

What are you working on with Origin?

Origin is part of our open materials platform. Open technology and partnerships between the technologists and the chemists now enable additive manufacturing to compete against conventional injection molding without the underlying risks, long lead times and penalties for design iteration. We are delighted to offer our customers revolutionary materials that enable the use of additive manufacturing for true high-volume production.”

What are you working on with HP?

“We are a material development and go to market partner for HP. HP is a strong partner within our 3D printing ecosystem and we believe that their Multi Jet Fusion technology will play an important role in the industrial transformation towards additive manufacturing.”

What kinds of materials are you developing?

“Every day, Loctite is developing groundbreaking materials to address the specific needs of the market, including resilient elastomers, heat-resistant polymers, biocompatible formulations, and other high-performance materials.”

What did the acquisition of Molecule Corp do for you?

“Molecule’s strong 3D printing and inkjet resin technologies and digital development capabilities perfectly complement and strengthen our materials portfolio and build on our approach to offer a comprehensive range of customized additive manufacturing solutions.”

What 3D printing technologies are you focusing on?

“For our material development program, we have launched a portfolio a portfolio of high-performance resins for DLP/SLA technologies and we continue to develop applications in this space. We have also announced our material development partnership for HP’s MJF technology.
“For post processing, finishing and functionalization of 3D printed parts, we are offering our solutions across all the 3D printing technologies.”

Who are you interested in partnering with?

“We are working with our partners such as printer manufacturers and system providers and we will continue to foster collaboration programs with multiple players in the industry to drive the industrialization of additive manufacturing.”

What advice would you give a company that wants to manufacture with 3D printing?

“There is no general answer to that question. We have a longstanding history in developing and providing tailor-made solutions for a broad variety of industries and production processes. The use of 3D printing technologies for manufacturing must always be customized as well.”

What is holding 3D printing back?

“We believe the hardware and software developments are becoming more impressive every day, but certainly there is still a lot of room to develop the broad spectrum of materials needed to serve the applications our industrial customers need today. Thus, we are focusing our efforts on developing engineering level materials that compete with injection molding performance.”

Will you sell your products only directly, also through resellers?

“We work closely with our customers to help to identify and develop applications for 3D printing. We also work with our very experienced industrial partners who help us serve more customers.”

The post Exclusive Interview with the Henkel LOCTITE Team on its Entry Into the 3D Printing Market appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

From 3D Printing to Additive Manufacturing: Industry Experts to Meet at BIG IDEAS for UV+EB Technology Conference

A unique, high-level cross section of supply and customer chain innovators are gathering March 19-20, 2019, in Redondo Beach, CA for BIG IDEAS for UV+EB Technology, a conference dedicated to the advancement and implementation of ultraviolet (UV) and electron beam (EB) technologies (UV+EB). Leading solution providers such as Fast Radius; top system suppliers including Formlabs and Carbon; diverse end users like Ford Motor Company and fashion designer Julia Daviy; academia; government agencies from NIST, US Naval Research Lab, the University of Michigan, and UCLA; resin raw material and development companies like Macdermid, allnex USA, Sartomer, and Colorado Photopolymer Solutions; and start-ups such as Origin and New Zealand-based MicroMaker 3D, will present on the latest developments and applications in additive manufacturing. “BIG IDEAS is the first event of its kind focused exclusively on the wide range of disciplines, developers, and users that are creating the future for UV additive manufacturing,” says Mickey Fortune, RadTech and BIG IDEAS VP of Business Development.

The two-day event includes an exhibition and a slate of prominent presenters on the newest developments in UV curable materials, processes (including SLA, DLP, and Inkjet) and end uses. Already widely considered the high-end additive manufacturing solution, this photopolymer-focused event will define opportunities for novel formulations, improved attributes, and unique properties, demonstrating UV additive manufacturing as a compelling alternative to traditional manufacturing techniques—with the potential to significantly speed product cycles and reduce costs for a wide range of consumer goods.

BIG IDEAS for UV+EB Technology includes a full day of Additive Manufacturing presentations; sessions on UV LEDs, Horticulture, Food and Beverage, Electronics and Display Technology, BIG IDEAS for UV+EB applications and presentations by the RadLaunch class of 2019 start-ups. Complete details are available here.

BIG IDEAS for UV+EB Technology Conference
March 19-20, 2019
Crowne Plaza Redondo Beach & Marina Hotel
Los Angeles (Redondo Beach), California

New UV-Curable Engineered Resins for 3D Printing

The rapid growth of 3D printing has challenged manufacturers to find materials that enable the advanced properties needed to support new performance demands. To help additive manufactures move beyond this challenge, Arkema offers market-leading solutions in photocurable resins and high-performance thermoplastic polymers for the 3D printing market.

Led by its flagship brands including N3xtDimension® liquid resins, Rilsan® biosourced polyamide 11, and ultra-high performance Kepstan® PEKK polymer, Arkema’s product offering spans all major 3D manufacturing technologies (UV curing, powder bed fusion, filament extrusion) in partnership with all of the market’s major equipment manufacturers. Seventy-five percent of Arkema’s active product development is with its partners.

      1. Liquid Resins for UV-Curing
      2. Sartomer, a business unit of Arkema, has developed the N3xtDimension® line of UV-curable 3D printing resins. These specialty liquid resins for 3D printing processes help additive manufacturers yield thermoplastic-like mechanical properties materials, ultra-high resolution, wavelength independency and enhanced processability. They also fulfil performance and regulatory requirements for a wide range of industrial uses in medical, dental, electronics and sporting goods applications. N3xtDimension® resins are ideal for multi-jet printing (MJP), stereolithography (SLA), digital light processing (DLP) and binder jetting (BJ) 3D printing technologies.

N3xtDimension® engineered liquid resins for UV curing enable a dedicated performance like impact resistance, flexibility, elastomeric recovery, water solubility, castability or prototyping; together with overall improved properties.

Sartomer Europe will introduce three new N3xtDimension® engineered liquid resins at the upcoming Formnext Show in Frankfurt, Germany:

  • N3D I-2105 Impact resin imparts excellent impact resistance to 3D-printed materials. It enables the manufacturing of functional parts such as snap-fit buckles.
  • N3D F-2115 Flexible resin achieves different flexibilities depending on the post treatment applied. Its elongation at break and modulus are fine-tunable to reach the desired set of properties such as elongation, tear resistance and Shore A hardness.
  • N3D P-2125 Prototyping resin exhibits a homogeneous network, enabling an excellent processability and limited evolution of mechanical properties after post-curing.

N3xtDimension® custom liquid resin systems

3D printing wax jewelry engagement ring 3d model on a white isolated background with shadow

The N3xtDimension® line also includes custom liquid resin systems developed from a novel selection of oligomer and monomer resins to address key market needs for end-use applications. These tailor-made solutions for UV-curable additive manufacturing enable freedom of design and customized properties such as impact resistance, resolution, flexibility, processability, toughness and clarity.

3D Printing Center of Excellence

As part of its commitment to 3D printing innovation, Arkema recently opened its 3D Printing Center of Excellence at the Sartomer Americas headquarters in Exton, Pennsylvania (USA). The center is an advanced R&D lab where Sartomer and its partners develop cutting-edge 3D printing resins through advanced materials research and collaboration. This center is part of Arkema’s worldwide R&D network dedicated to the development of advanced materials for additive manufacturing, including research centers in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania (USA) for filament extrusion technologies and Serquigny (France) for powder sintering technologies. In addition, Arkema has announced new production capacities for PEKK resins in the United States in 2018, photocure resins in China in 2019, and polyamide 11 biosourced resins in Asia in 2021.

Conclusion

Success in additive manufacturing applications requires new material development and close partnerships. Customized, engineered resins and chemist-to-chemist support give additive manufacturers the technological and market edge they need to be at the forefront of 3D printing innovation.  Arkema will showcase its material offerings at Formnext 2018 in hall 3.1, booth H58.  Arkema experts will be available to discuss how materials offerings can be customized to specific applications.

Sumeet Jain, Global Director for 3D Printing Business, Sartomer