Stereolithography solution offers high durability

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jun 28, 2007

DMX-SL is based on a technology which produces resins with extremely high impact strength and resistance to breakage.

DSM Somos has introduced DMX-SL 100, the industry's first stereolithography (SL) resin targeted for high-durability applications and a significant new chemistry platform for direct manufacturing development.

Developed via the joint efforts of DSM Somos RandD and the Netherlands-based DSM Research group, DMX-SL is based on a technology which produces resins with extremely high impact strength and resistance to breakage.

"DMX-SL is very different from traditional SL resins", says Somos Product Development Manager Brian Bauman.

"With an impact strength up to 0.71J/cm, yet a flexural modulus ranging from 2000-2400MPa, it has the stiffness of standard ABS-type resins but more than twice the impact strength - plus up to 20% elongation at break".

This closer approximation of thermoplastic-type properties brings SL one step closer to direct manufacturing - that is, the cost-effective direct building of custom plastics parts without the need for tooling.

Though SL has successfully been used to date for some specific direct manufacturing applications, such as hearing aid shells, jigs/fixtures for product assemblies and interior products such as custom lamp shades, its widespread use has been limited by material properties.

It offers constant impact resistance even after aging at high-temperatures.

DMX-SL 100 allows SL technology to be used as a cost-effective alternative to Selective - laser sintering (SLS) and vacuum casting.

It offers aero inhibition to common silicone moulding materials and is suitable for small frame as well as large-frame SL machines such as the Viper Si2, SLA 7000 and Viper Pro.

"Current SL resins on the market - and there are over 40 between Somos and other suppliers - are more brittle than traditional engineered plastics such as polypropylene, ABS, polycarbonate and nylon", says Bauman.

"In addition, SL parts often become more brittle over time, which is unacceptable for direct manufacturing applications".

While SL resins perform well in rapid prototyping applications, their usefulness in direct manufacturing has been restricted to products that do not require much durability.

"We believe Somos DMX-SL 100 is a revolutionary product for the RP industry", says Somos Marketing Manager Eva Montgomery.

"Until now, other RP technologies that use molten or sintered thermoplastics have traditionally been chosen when part durability was critical, but with a sacrifice in part aesthetics or dimensional consistency".

"DMX-SL combines the accuracy of SL with the durability of a sintered nylon".

"Now RP users can have custom-built parts that are durable, accurate, and have excellent detail".

Mark Jones, SL Manager at Laser Reproductions in Gahanna, Ohio, says, "DMX-SL is rigid yet bendable - the perfect combination".

"Its impact reliability is much more than 'semi-rigid' or 'rigid' materials currently on the market".

"I've doubled parts over with no breakage".

"Compared to typical SL materials, DMX-SL is heads above the competition".

DMX-SL100 parts are now commercially available.