DSM adds four material grades to e-Xstream Digimat-AM simulation solution

Global sciences company Royal DSM has added four 3D printing grades to e-Xstream’s Digimat-AM simulation solution. The combination of DSM’s high performance polymers with e-Xstream’s 3D print process simulation software will provide businesses with the ability to better identify potential manufacturing problems and rectify those issues for a specific material.

The e-Xstream Digimat-AM solution is an award-winning simulation platform for the additive manufacturing process. It was awarded by JEC Innovation in 2017, as well as by JEC Innovation Asia in 2018. The platform is currently a finalist for the ACE Award for Composite Excellence at CAMX 2018.

This Spring, Solvay became the first company to have its polyetheretherketone polymer KetaSpire PEEK AM filament included in the Digimat solution. Now, DSM has added four of its high-performance polymers to the simulation software. As the companies emphasize, Digimat-AM provides users with the ability to work with high quality materials without wasting them (and time and costs) on failed prints.

“DSM is a long-term partner and now we are very excited to join forces to further accelerate the adoption of polymer additive manufacturing,” said Guillaume Boisot, Business Development Manager at e-Xstream engineering. “Combining DSM materials’ portfolio with Digimat modeling technology will allow to demonstrate the advantages of 3D printing in many applications at affordable costs.”

The four materials added into the Digimat-AM database are the following:

• Novamid ID 1030, a high-performance polyamide 6/polyamide 66 that is both easy to print with and demonstrates good interlayer strength and high surface quality.
• Novamid ID 1030 CF10, a PA6/66 with 1% reinforced carbon fibers. The material was developed for printing functional prototypes and industrial components.
• Novamic ID 1070, a premium PA6 with co-polymer technology that leads to good mechanical properties and high stiffness.
• Arnite ID 3040, a high-performance engineering plastic that has both high strength and good impact resistance. The material has applications in the automotive, electrical and electronic consumer goods sectors.

“We are very excited to work with DSM on the characterization and simulation of their high performance FFF grades to answer a key challenge of today’s AM industry: the need of AM-focus numerical simulation models and tools,” added Olivier Lietaer, Business Development Engineer for Additive Manufacturing at e-Xstream engineering. “Working with a pioneer actor of the AM industry will also help continuously improving our Digimat Additive Manufacturing simulations. This recent joint effort on AM ultimately strengthens the long beneficial collaboration between e-Xstream and DSM.”

The DSM materials will be available as digital twins in the upcoming Digimat 2019.0 release, enabling users to generate process simulation and part performance predictions for 3D printed parts to be made from them. The Digimat simulation system will also integrate improved accuracy so that end-users can reduce weight, cost and time-to-market of their printed parts while simultaneously reducing material testing and waste.

Nirali Surati, Product manager Additive Manufacturing Solids at DSM, concluded: “Additive manufacturing is quickly evolving from prototyping into mainstream manufacturing. One of the most important enablers is the capability to predict the behavior and performance of 3D printed parts in applications. Thanks to the collaboration with e-Xstream Engineering our customers now have the toolbox to design and predict reliable parts with the performance required for their application.”

DSM and e-Xstream will be showcasing their respective materials and simulation software at Formnext 2018 in Frankfurt. Notably, the companies will present on “Modelling Process and Performance of Fused Filament Fabrication” at the TCT Introduction stage on November 16th.