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3D Printing News Briefs: April 4, 2020

It’s the first 3D Printing News Briefs of the month! To start with, SelfCAD released a new update, and ACEO is hosting a webinar series about 3D printing with silicones, while Objectify Technologies and TAGMA India are hosting a webinar series about AM adoption. Finally, SHINING 3D and Scan the World are using 3D scanners to bring art and culture to people during a time when most can’t leave their homes.

SelfCAD 2.9.2 Release

SelfCAD has released its latest software update, SelfCAD 2.9.2, which improves upon existing features and adds new ones to make 3D modeling and printing more efficient. First, there’s a new Environment Map feature in the Settings dropdown menu that lets you add lighting and scenery to your model, and even an environment map. In advanced settings, the new Macro Preview feature lets you see the results of the macros you’ve added without having to finalize your choices.

You can set a Minimum Step Size for Drawing, Transformation, and Deformation tools, and apply several operations, such as Chamfer, Fillet, Round Object, and Simplify, to Profiles. In addition, SelfCAD has fixed some bugs, and added more settings and options to the Round Object tool. If you have any questions or bugs to report, you can join the SelfCAD Facebook group or email support@selfcad.com.

ACEO Presenting 3D Silicone Printing Webinar Series

Due to newly implemented health and safety measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, ACEO continues to be operational, but is unable to receive customers right now. So, in an effort to stay connected during these strange times, the company’s team of application specialists, design engineers, and material experts are presenting a series of webinars – in English – all about silicone 3D printing.

The first one, “ACEO Basics,” will be held Tuesday, April 7, from 9-9:30 CET, and Wednesday, April 8, from 4-4:30 CET. You can sign up for the webinars here; the event password is jVMGwgX$242. Future topics for the series, with dates not yet announced, are “Real Silicones,” “Design Freedom,” and “ACEO Use Cases.” Please email service@aceo3d.com with your name, company/organization, and country if you’d like to sign up. A modern browser (i.e. not Internet Explorer) is recommended to watch the webinars.

Objectify Technologies and TAGMA India Holding Webinars

As many people around the world are staying indoors and away from other people during the pandemic, it’s easy to get bored. But, you can spend your time in a productive way, which is why Objectify Technologies and TAGMA India are holding their own 3D printing webinar series together. The series, themed “3D Printing: Prototype to Production,” was created to promote adoption of and spread awareness about additive manufacturing. Webinars will begin on April 6th and go through April 14th, with topics such as Additive Manufacturing/3D Printing 101, Learnings and Misconceptions, and Current Challenges and Demand of the Industry.

“To help engineers around the world learn something new in this lockdown time, we have come up with a series of webinars on Additive Manufacturing (AM). The idea behind this webinar is to spread awareness regarding the AM technology and help companies in their journey towards industry 4.0,” said Ankit Sahu, Founder & Director, Objectify Technologies Pvt Ltd. “The objective is to encourage individuals ranging from students, researchers, and industrialist, on 3D Printing and the value it possesses for Industry 4.0.

“I thank Mr. DK Sharma, President TAGMA India and the entire team of TAGMA for their support. During this challenging time, it’s the collective effort that will help us all grow. Let us all do our bit to help the industry in skill development.”

3D Scanning to Build a Museum Without Walls

Continuing on in our list of things to do while stuck inside during the coronavirus crisis, SHINING 3D has been working with MyMiniFactoryto to digitize important artifacts for its Scan the World community-built initiative, which archives 3D printable sculptures and other culturally significant objects. Together, they are basically building a 3D museum without walls that anyone can access at any time and from anywhere. Many museums open their data with an open license in 2D, but don’t have the necessary resources to do so in 3D. Scan the World founder and manager Jon Beck is offering museums a free end-to-end service of scanning the sculptures, with the EinScan Pro 2X Plus, before processing the data into 3D models and uploading them to the museum’s Scan the World profile.

“The quality is very nice for the price that you pay. Scanning is still quite a high-level-entry technology, but what SHINING 3D has been able to do is to create an accessible affordable product, which still produces very good results for a wide range of industries, for me working with sculptures I haven’t found any issues so far working with marble and plaster sculptures and even bronze sculptures. EinScan has been able to solve all of these problems for me,” Beck said.

“There is so much story behind every single artwork whether it’s an original or it’s a copy which is quite beautiful and so, working with each member of staff in the museum who want to tell a different story about their collection is great.”

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3D Printing News Briefs: March 10, 2020

The big story in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs is the postponing of the Materialise World Summit. Then we’ll finish with a little business news, as 3D PRINT UK is moving to expanded premises. Finally, starting this week, you can get QUANT-U’s 3D printed silicone midsoles at ECCO’s flagship Zürich store for a limited time.

Materialise World Summit Postponed

Every two years, Materialise holds its Materialise World Summit (MWS) in Brussels, Belgium, gathering together the industry’s thought leaders and decision makers so they can share ideas about the additive manufacturing industry. This event typically takes place in the spring, which was the original plan for this year’s MWS…but not anymore. MWS 2020, originally scheduled for May 14-15, has been postponed, due to, as the company’s Kristof Sehmke tells us, “the coronavirus and its impact on international traffic.”

MWS 2020 will now take place November 5-6, which makes it a busy month considering that will just one week before formnext in Germany. This isn’t the only major industry event that’s had to change its plans due to the COVID-19 outbreak – JEC World, originally scheduled for last week, has been pushed back to May, and after several big companies originally planning to attend the upcoming SXSW dropped out, including Apple, Facebook, Amazon Studios, TikTok, Intel, and Warner Music, the Texas-based conference was called off. With California Governor Gavin Newsome declaring a state of emergency in California over the coronavirus, should we all cancel our plans for RAPID + TCT next month? Time will only tell.

3D PRINT UK Moves to Bigger Facility

Moving on to some better news, 3DPRINTUK has just finished the move to its new purpose-designed facility in North London’s Leyton Industrial Village. The service provider of polymer SLS 3D printing solutions for manufacturing applications was seeing increased demand for low volume production, and determined that a move was needed to accommodate the company’s current, and future, plans for expansion. 3DPRINTUK’s new home is larger, with nearly 10,000 square feet of space, and was custom-designed to hold the company’s EOS polymer SLS 3D printers, as well as offer a space for post-processing operations and a break down room that’s sealed to avoid powder contamination.

“At 3DPRINTUK we are able to work with our customers — and potential new customers — to illustrate when and why the SLS process will work for them. But we are not afraid to tell them when it won’t, either. This is really important to us, and something the industry at large is not very good at confronting,” stated Nick Allen, 3DPRINTUK’s Founder and Managing Director. “I think this approach has contributed to our growth, which has been organic year on year, and the new premises are testament to that. We are still settling in, but the printers have been working non-stop since we got here and we are looking to further expand our capacity in the near future.”

QUANT-U’s In-store Experience at ECCO

In 2018, the Innovation Lab at Danish heritage footwear brand and manufacturer ECCO introduced an experimental footwear customization project called QUANT-U, which uses real-time analysis, data-driven design, and in-store 3D printing to create custom, personalized midsoles out of a heat cured two-component silicone in just two hours. The QUANT-U experience is now coming to ECCO’s flagship Zürich store as an exclusive pop-up event from now until April 15, with a “unique limited collection” available to both men and women, along with the full customization service.

The process is simple – 3D scanners determine your orthotic fit in 30 seconds, so your midsoles have the correct shoe size and arch height. Then, during a walking analysis, wearable sensors will create an accurate representation of how you move around. The anatomical scan and the sensor data will help QUANT-U build a unique digital footprint just for you, which leads to customized, 3D printed midsoles within two hours. You can use the cloud-based service to print your own midsoles from any location and have them shipped to you, but at the upcoming ECCO pop-up event, you can just pick them up in the store. Book your fitting now!

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3D Printing News Briefs: October 14, 2019

In today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, everything is new, new, new! Carbon is announcing a new RPU 130 material, and STERNE Elastomere introduces its antimicrobial silicone 3D printing. Protolabs launches a new polypropylene 3D printing service in Europe, and Hydra Research has officially released its flagship Nautilus 3D printer.

Carbon Introduces RPU 130 Material

At this week’s International K Trade Fair in Dusseldorf, Carbon will debut its new RPU 130 resin, a rigid polyurethane that’s rigid, tough, impact resistant, and stands up under high temperatures, making it a perfect choice for the automotive industry in applications such as brake caliper covers. Made exclusively for Carbon’s Digital Light Synthesis, the dual-cure engineering resin is comparable to unfilled thermoplastics, and Carbon also partnered with DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products to make RPU 130 out of sustainable Susterra propanediol, a 100% bio-based material that uses 46% less nonrenewable energy from cradle-to-gate and produces 48% less greenhouse gas emissions as well.

“We are focused on ways to incorporate more sustainable approaches to developing materials, and our partnership with DuPont Tate & Lyle emphasizes that commitment,” stated Jason Rolland, SVP of Materials at Carbon. “We believe that sustainability can go hand-in-hand with improved performance. In the case of RPU 130, we believe it will make the material even more appealing for our customers, as it makes it possible to create better quality products that are also ultimately better for the environment.”

You can learn more about Carbon’s new RPU 130 at its K-Show booth, H7.2, F12 from October 16-23.

Antimicrobial Silicone 3D Printing by STERNE

French silicone 3D printing specialist STERNE will also be attending K 2019 this month. Three years ago, the company unveiled its silicone 3D printer at K 2016, and its SiO-shaping 3D silicone printing technology makes it possible to fabricate very small pieces, according to standard ISO 3302-01 :2014 (M2) tolerances, at hardness from 30 to 60 Shores A. The printer also offers a full panel of colors in opaque, phosphorescent, and translucent.

The company is now combining 3D printing with antimicrobial silicone, in order to keep the silicone odor-free, avoid bacteria developing, improve the hygiene of a 3D printed object, and strengthen its immune barrier as well. You can learn more about this antimicrobial silicone 3D printing at STERNE’s Stand E23, Hall 8A, at K 2019.

Protolabs Offering Polypropylene 3D Printing in Europe

For the first time, digital manufacturing company Protolabs is offering polypropylene 3D printing, with the launch of a new service in Europe. The company has invested a lot in developing the material to be used with selective laser sintering (SLS) technology, on an SPro 60 system. SLS 3D printing with polypropylene plastic allows design engineers to rapidly develop and test prototypes, and fabricate complex designs as well, like internal channels and honeycomb structures.

“Polypropylene is one of the most used plastics available to modern manufacturers and is widely used for a number of applications. Polypropylene is one of the most used plastics available to modern manufacturers and is widely used for a number of applications. Now that we can produce a prototype in polypropylene, design engineers can develop and test it in an application using the same material that it will be manufactured from. The product design can then be quickly reiterated and retested until they have the perfect solution, before committing to tooling. This breakthrough takes product development to the next level using the most versatile of plastics, ” said Andrea Landoni, 3D printing product manager for Protolabs.

“Before, if you wanted to use polypropylene then you were limited in what you could design by the manufacturing technology available to you. Now the only limitation is your imagination.”

Hydra Research Releases Flagship 3D Printer

Oregon company Hydra Research, which began in a closet three years ago as a peer-to-peer print service, has announced the release of it flagship 3D printer, the Nautilus. The fully enclosed, industrial-grade desktop system – assembled in Portland – features a quick-change Tool Cartridge system that integrates E3D’s V6 hotend for fast nozzle switching, in addition to an integrated software solution. It also supports a variety of materials, provides Cura profiles for easy slicing, has a small footprint in a sleek frame, and offers customizable HydraCare support and consulting packages

“As a company, our primary goal is producing world-class hardware on an open source platform,” explained John Kray, the Founder and CEO of Hydra Research. “Manufacturers like E3D, Duet3D, and Fillamentum combine these values perfectly.”

You can now purchase Hydra’s Nautilus 3D printer on the company’s website, in addition to spare parts, accessories, and filament.

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WACKER Opens New ACEO Open 3D Print Lab at Ann Arbor Facility

Munich-based WACKER is known for their expertise in manufacturing and supplying chemicals and materials to industry leaders. They are now adding to their silicone research and development facility in Ann Arbor, Michigan, dedicated a portion of it to an ACEO® Open Print Lab. With 3D printers already on site, they will be advising on additive manufacturing with a range of silicone rubber materials, varying in Shore A hardnesses and color.

WACKER considers the ACEO products to be pioneering technology, based on use of their silicone materials. ACEO techniques rely on their proprietary 3D printers, developed at WACKER, along with accompanying software and materials. All their unique methods have been rigorously tested for 3D printing ‘highly viscous’ silicone polymers which are used in ‘drop-on-demand’ processes, suitable for the following applications:

Automotive
Aerospace and aviation
Healthcare
Equipment
Mechanical engineering

The Michigan site follows the success of the world’s first 3D printing web shop opened by WACKER in 2017, and then the WACKER ACEO Open Print Lab in Burghausen, Germany, in 2017—where customers have been able to find out exactly how the use of silicone rubber and 3D printing can further manufacturing and industrial endeavors. With the popularity of that lab, they realized the need for a similar forum within North America. The Open Print Lab, meant to offer a local presence and AM solutions to other users and businesses, will host tutorials as well as giving hands-on training to customers interested in 3D printing with silicone.

“We are pleased to announce another milestone in ACEO’s history with the launch of the Open Print Lab in Ann Arbor,” says Dr. Bernd Pachaly, Head of Project 3D Printing at WACKER SILICONES. “North America is one of the leading markets in additive manufacturing. Our new facility brings 3D printing with silicones much closer to potential customers in the region.”

WACKER opened its first US based ACEO® Open Print Lab in Ann Arbor, Michigan, today. The new facility is equipped with two 3D printers able to process a broad range of silicone rubber with different Shore A hardnesses and in varying colors. (Photo: WACKER)

Headed by Lab Manager Sarah Burke, (previously at the Silicones R&D Center in fundamental product research for construction applications and consumer care), the lab will be equipped with two 3D printers, where ACEO’s manufacturing technology will be used for training and developing—exposing other users and companies to its usefulness in serial manufacturing and affordable production of replacement parts, or those that have become obsolete. Workshops will be offered to small groups of four or less, who will experience personal training in both theoretical and hands-on 3D printing education, from the basics to advanced design.

“Our business partners in the region want to understand how their ideas and products can be brought to market with our support. WACKER’s Silicone R&D Center in Ann Arbor was designed to develop advanced and forward-looking solutions for silicones. With the new Open Print Lab, we can significantly expand our local portfolio and contribute to the growing demand of the market,” says Ian Moore, Vice President of WACKER SILICONES at Wacker Chemical Corporation in Adrian, Michigan.

Are you interested in finding out more about a workshop? If so, register for training tailored to your needs at the ACEO campus in Ann Arbor, and find out more here. Find out more about other innovations we have covered regarding silicone, for items like insoles, conductive materials, or even soft robotic grippers

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[Source / Images: WACKER/ACEO]

Sterne Bringing Silicone 3D Printing to COMPAMED Trade Fair

Sterne Elastomere, a company located in the south of France, specializes in manufacturing items out of silicone materials for industries such as food and drink, mass transit, medical, nuclear, and pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Two years ago, Sterne made its move into the 3D printing world and debuted its SiO-Shaping 1601 silicone 3D printer at K 2016, a top plastics and rubber trade show, for the first time.

In order to provide its clients with 3D printed silicone prototypes that possessed properties similar to that of the final product, Sterne developed its technology so it could deposit filaments of 100% UV-cured silicone. It’s definitely not easy to 3D print with silicone, due to properties that make it unable to be heated and extruded in the same way that typical thermoplastic materials can be, but companies like Sterne, Wacker Chemie, and Fripp Design Research have been making great strides over the last few years.

Over the last two years, Sterne, which has over 20 years of experience in the silicone industry, has been working hard to refine its 3D printing silicone technology, so it can be a viable alternative option for customers looking to meet their technical needs. Now the company is bringing its SiO-shaping 3D silicone printing method to COMPAMED 2018, a trade fair for medical suppliers and manufacturers which begins in a little over a week in Düsseldorf, Germany.

According to a release by the company, “Sterne is able to manufacture little to medium series on projects dedicated to 3D printing. An approved solution for pieces with a need situated between molding and extrusion technics, on specific applications both medical and short term implantable. Now, it is only in one step that devices with complex and atypical forms can be produced. A research and development department composed of 3D specialists and engineers, go with clients on project development and monitoring, perpetuating new concepts and ideas. A quick manufacturing on competitive deadlines since no design or validation of tools is necessary.”

The company’s SiO 3D silicone printing has been further refined since it was first introduced. In 2016, it promised a minimum 3D print layer height of 0.25 mm, but can now achieve a minimum of 0.1 mm (100 microns). Its SiO-Shaping 1601 silicone 3D printer offers a maximum print volume of 205 x 200 x 100 mm, along with hardness from 30 to 60 Shores A.

Sterne’s silicone 3D printing can help all of its customers with their fast prototyping needs. But its specialty is manufacturing thin, accurate silicone products for the medical sector that meet the necessary aesthetic and technical needs.

“Whether High Consistency Silicone Rubber (HCR) or Liquid Silicone Rubber (LSR), Sterne masters a large range of manufacturing process such as extrusion, molding, making, over-molding inside ISO 6, ISO 7 and ISO 8 cleanrooms,” the company’s release states.

In addition, Sterne’s SiO silicone 3D printing also offers a full panel of colors, including phosphorescent, translucent, and opaque, which is available for colors like red, yellow, black, and green. However, these colors are only available for materials that meet the necessary quality requirements according to the FDA or USP class VI medical grade.

You can see the company’s silicone 3D printing prowess for yourself at COMPAMED from November 12-15 in the Düsseldorf exhibition center. To rediscover, or see for the first time, Sterne’s range of products for the medical sector, visit the company at Stand L02 in Hall 08b.

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Breakthrough 3D Printed Neural Scaffold Could Help Patients with Spinal Cord Injuries Regain Some Functions

Right now, 285,000 people in the US suffer from spinal cord injuries, with roughly 17,000 new injuries each year. 3D printed spinal implants have been shown to help patients recover more easily, and a team of engineers and medical researchers from the University of Minnesota (UMN) have spent the last two years developing an innovative new 3D printed medical device that could help long-term spinal cord injury patients regain some function in the future.

“This is a very exciting first step in developing a treatment to help people with spinal cord injuries. Currently, there aren’t any good, precise treatments for those with long-term spinal cord injuries,” said Ann Parr, MD, PhD, a UMN Medical School Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery and Stem Cell Institute.

The method involves a 3D printed silicone guide, which acts as a scaffold for special stem cells that are bioprinted directly on top of it. The aim is to surgically implant the guide into the injured part of the spinal cord, and it should act as a bridge between living nerve cells both above and below the area, which could help alleviate pain for patients, in addition to helping them gain control over functions like bladder, bowel, and muscle control again.

“We’ve found that relaying any signals across the injury could improve functions for the patients. There’s a perception that people with spinal cord injuries will only be happy if they can walk again. In reality, most want simple things like bladder control or to be able to stop uncontrollable movements of their legs,” Parr explained. “These simple improvements in function could greatly improve their lives.”

Spinal cord scaffold assembly process: 3D bioprinting cells on silicone scaffolds
allows for in vitro culture of sNPCs and OPCs. (a) Silicone scaffolds are printed with
channels, and (b) cells are dispensed inside the channels. (c) A layer of silicone covers the channels, and (d) scaffolds are placed inside a dish and cultured for 7 days.

The team recently published a paper on their potentially life-changing work, titled “3D Printed Stem-Cell Derived Neural Progenitors Generate Spinal Cord Scaffolds,” in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Advanced Functional Materials.

Fluorescence images of 3D printed cell-laden Matrigel (50%) matrices cultured for 0 (3 hours), 1, and 4 days. Timescale images show (a) sNPCs extending axons, and (b) OPCs exhibiting bi-polar processes.

The abstract reads, “A bioengineered spinal cord is fabricated via extrusion‐based multimaterial 3D bioprinting, in which clusters of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)‐derived spinal neuronal progenitor cells (sNPCs) and oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) are placed in precise positions within 3D printed biocompatible scaffolds during assembly. The location of a cluster of cells, of a single type or multiple types, is controlled using a point‐dispensing printing method with a 200 µm center‐to‐center spacing within 150 µm wide channels. The bioprinted sNPCs differentiate and extend axons throughout microscale scaffold channels, and the activity of these neuronal networks is confirmed by physiological spontaneous calcium flux studies. Successful bioprinting of OPCs in combination with sNPCs demonstrates a multicellular neural tissue engineering approach, where the ability to direct the patterning and combination of transplanted neuronal and glial cells can be beneficial in rebuilding functional axonal connections across areas of central nervous system (CNS) tissue damage. This platform can be used to prepare novel biomimetic, hydrogel‐based scaffolds modeling complex CNS tissue architecture in vitro and harnessed to develop new clinical approaches to treat neurological diseases, including spinal cord injury.”

The process begins with any type of adult stem cell, be it blood or skin, and medical researchers use the latest bioengineering techniques to reprogram these into neuronal stem cells. These cells are then 3D printed onto a silicone guide with a unique extrusion-based technology, which can print both the cells and the guide from the same 3D printer.

Michael McAlpine, PhD, UMN Benjamin Mayhugh Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering in the University’s College of Science and Engineering, said, “This is the first time anyone has been able to directly 3D print neuronal stem cells derived from adult human cells on a 3D-printed guide and have the cells differentiate into active nerve cells in the lab.”

Photograph of customized 3D bioprinting setup.

The 3D printed silicone guide keeps the stem cells alive, so they can change into neurons.

“Everything came together at the right time. We were able to use the latest cell bioengineering techniques developed in just the last few years and combine that with cutting-edge 3D-printing techniques,” said Parr.

The researchers created a prototype implantable guide to help connect the living cells on each side of a damaged spinal cord area, though this task was not without its difficulties.

“3D printing such delicate cells was very difficult. The hard part is keeping the cells happy and alive,” explained McAlpine. “We tested several different recipes in the printing process. The fact that we were able to keep about 75 percent of the cells alive during the 3D-printing process and then have them turn into healthy neurons is pretty amazing.”

With any luck, the team’s next steps in the process will be successful, which should provide some hope for the future to patients with long-term spinal cord injuries.

Co-authors of the paper are Daeha Joung, Vincent Truong, Colin C. Neitzke, Shuang-Zhuang Guo, Patrick J. Walsh, Joseph R. Monat, Fanben Meng, Sung Hyun Park, James R. Dutton, Parr, and McAlpine.

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ECCO Steps Forward with 3D Printed Custom Silicone Midsoles

German company ViscoTec, which manufactures systems required for conveying, dosing, applying, filling, and emptying medium to high-viscosity fluids for multiple industries, including automotive, medical, and aerospace, is well-known in the 3D printing world for its two-component print head for viscous materials like silicone. The Bavaria-based company, which began working with 3D printing four years ago, employs about 200 people worldwide, and is now putting its print head to the test through a collaboration with Danish heritage footwear brand and manufacturer ECCO.

ECCO, a family-owned business founded in 1963 with factories and subsidiaries in China, Indonesia, Portugal, Slovakia, Thailand, and Vietnam, has a vision of becoming the top premium brand for leather goods and shoes. The latest innovation to be introduced by the Innovation Lab of ECCO is called QUANT-U, an experimental footwear customization project.

QUANT-U relies on three core technologies: real-time analysis, data-driven design, and in-store 3D printing. The project combines these technologies to create custom, personalized midsoles, in just two hours, out of a heat cured two-component silicone.

Most everyone likes personalized products such as shoes, but due to the necessary cost, production time, and expertise involved in making custom footwear, they’re typically not available to everyone. But thanks to ECCO’s partnership with ViscoTec, this is going to change.

3D printing of silicone midsoles with ViscoTec printhead.

In order to specifically coordinate the material properties and the process, ECCO had to rethink its approach to customization, and now plans to utilize ViscoTec’s print head technology and two-component silicone to 3D print customer-specific midsoles for its customers, so each person can enjoy their own tailored fit and comfort.

According to the Innovation Lab ECCO website for QUANT-U, “A midsole is the functional heart of the shoe. It plays a key role in the performance and comfort of your footwear. Two years of research has proven that replacing the standard PU midsoles with 3D printed silicone can tune its inherent properties; viscoelasticity, durability and temperature stability.”

The QUANT-U process has three steps, starting with using scanners and wearable sensors to measure the customer’s feet and build a unique digital footprint. This biomechanical data is then evaluated and interpreted using a sophisticated algorithm, and a unique configuration is generated through structural simulations and machine learning.

This augmented pattern is optimized for each person’s respective feet and activity level by making adjustments to its densities, patterns, and structures, and the final 3D printed midsoles are personalized according to the customer’s own orthopedic parameters for a far more comfortable fit than you’d get with typical store-bought midsoles. Within just a few hours, you’re able to take home your custom 3D printed midsoles, along with your chosen pair of ECCO shoes.

Thermal cross-linking of the individual silicone layers.

By 3D printing the two-component silicone, ECCO is able to optimally counteract the high mechanical stresses we often deal with in everyday life; this is thanks to the midsole’s algorithmic designs combining with the silicone’s unique properties. By utilizing 3D printing, ECCO will be able to fabricate large quantities of personalized midsoles.

Using ViscoTec’s print heads gives ECCO several unique advantages, such as the usage of heat cured two-component silicone and precise 3D printing results, in addition to making sure that the silicone is uniformly mixed in the static mixing tube.

The footwear industry, which often utilizes 3D printing, has been growing fast over the last few years, with its global market expected to reach $371.8 billion by 2020. We often see 3D printed insoles and midsoles available for purchase now, and ECCO’s collaboration with ViscoTec and its unique 3D print head will certainly help keep it in the game.

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[Images provided by ViscoTec]