Flexible plastic chosen for footwear
A
Moog product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Oct 9, 2007
3D Systems' DuraForm Flex Plastic is suitable for creating complex, functional prototypes of Reebok footwear, sandals and athletic equipment.
Reebok is using 3D Systems' DuraForm Flex Plastic for a number of its products.
DuraForm Flex Plastic is flexible and soft, yet tear-resistant and durable.
This thermoplastic elastomer material is suitable for creating complex, functional prototypes of Reebok footwear, sandals and athletic equipment.
It can also be used to produce prototype gaskets, hoses and seals and for the complex production and prototyping of plastic parts.
Reebok has found DuraForm Flex Plastic to be easy to process in its 3D Systems' Selective Laser Sintering System.
Unlike earlier generation materials, DuraForm Flex directly produces durable parts.
Secondary infiltration is optional, but users can add colour, improve burst strength and create a water-tight barrier.
Bblack, red, yellow, blue and natural colours are available, which can be mixed to create custom colours.
Reebok produces parts at a 0.15mm layer thickness, which is comparable to other flexible materials, but DuraForm Flex Plastic delivers a good surface finish and the ability to create parts with fine-feature details.
By further reducing layer thicknesses from 0.15 to 0.1mm, DuraForm Flex Plastic offers up to a 33% improvement in resolution.
Parts built from DuraForm Flex Plastic are able to withstand repeated bending and flexing as well as harsh functional testing.
By varying machine process conditions, this material can consistently create parts with optimised Shore A hardnesses ranging between 45 and 75.
"Our application is different than most", said Gary Rabinovitz, Rapid Prototyping Lab Manager at Reebok.
"We build one or two confirmation samples out of 3D Systems' DuraForm Flex Plastic".
"The parts are very flexible and can be painted, so we get the look and feel of a real shoe".
"For this type of application, we prefer DuraForm Flex to all the other materials available on the market".
"Duraform Flex Material gives us a much more consistent and stable material for our flexible parts".
"We can set up large complex builds that run overnight with the confidence that we will have good results in the morning", added Paul Bates, Director of Advanced Process Engineering for Reebok International.
"3D Systems developed DuraForm Flex Plastic based on customer suggestions for an improved elastomeric material".
"We listened to their ideas and integrated the desired properties into this next-generation flexible material", said Abe Reichental, 3D Systems' President and Chief Executive Officer.
"The synergy between this material and our SLS Systems enables our customers like Reebok to produce usable parts quickly, shortens product development time, reduces time to market and simplifies customisation without incurring any capital tooling expense".
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