3DCeram expands its offer with ceramic and metal FFF 3D printing

Ceramic SLA market leader 3DCeram Sinto has become the majority shareholder of Berlin-based start-up Tiwari Scientific Instruments, which becomes 3DCeram Sinto Tiwari as of today.

Tiwari Scientific Instrument was created in 2019 within the ESA (European Space Agency) ecosystem, and masters all the steps of FFF (Fused Filament Fabrication) 3D printing for metals and ceramics: selection of filaments, design for FFF, manufacturing of parts, design and construction of printers with a first machine, the Raptor, as well as debinding and sintering.

The Berlin startup’s EAM technology is suitable for the cost-effective production of both ceramic and metal parts using FFF. The process uses specially fabricated bound metal or ceramic filaments which are shaped into desired geometry using specially developed in-house FFF printers. The printed “green parts” may then be machined in order to include further details in the parts and to improve surface finish, after which they are subsequently heat-treated at high temperatures to eliminate the binder and to sinter the part. The Raptor yields both metal and ceramic parts with a relative density of over 99%.

Tiwari currently supports metals, including Copper, Stainless Steel (316L & 17-4PH), Titanium (Ti6Al4V), and ceramics, including Alumina (Al2O3), Silicon Carbide (SiC), Silicon Nitride (Si3N4), Tungsten Carbide-Cobalt (WC-Co), Zirconia (ZrO2), Molybdenum disilicide (MoSi2).

The 3DCeram Sinto group is acquiring a stake in this German start-up with the aim of integrating its FFF technology, which was created to work with some of the most advanced ceramic and metal materials. This initiative fits within 3DCeram’s strategy to offer its customers the technology that is best suited to their requirements and fit for integration in Factory 4.0 guidelines.

This new acquisition by the Sinto group is part of its development program entitled M.A.T. (Multi Advanced Technologies), which is intended to serve the objectives of a new type of additive and intelligent manufacturing, which will be organized in networks and will essentially be digital. This program aims to respond to the imperatives of ecology, sustainable development, technicality, precision, and proximity by offering a new way of considering the production of parts.