Sandia National Laboratories acquires second Lithoz CeraFab printer

Lithoz GmbH, a ceramic 3D printing innovator, has installed a second industrial CeraFab 3D printer at Sandia National Laboratories facilities. As a direct result of Lithoz technology, Sandia can print piece parts with previously unachievable geometries at a far more rapid rate, producing components that normally take months within a week and at a tenth of the cost when compared to conventional production processes.

Sandia plans to greatly ramp up research and development into additively manufactured ceramics and scale up production efforts of optimized AM ceramic subcomponents using multiple  Lithoz printers and ceramic materials. As an entirely new material for Sandia subcomponents, the attractive technical advantages (such as design flexibility and robust end pieces) of this material could unlock completely new applications.

The CeraFab S65, Lithoz’s industrial-level 3D printer, enables the serial 3D printing of highly complex ceramic parts. Thanks to the high degree of automation unlocked by Lithoz’s Lithography-based Ceramic Manufacturing (LCM) process, Sandia has reduced costs to just one-tenth of that of conventional methods. Due to the lack of tools, as well as the option to easily edit and improve designs, Sandia was able to significantly shorten development cycles from months to within a week, reducing cost and time risks and balancing the rapid scale of piece parts with the design needs of end-users.

“By combining LCM technology with the attractive material properties of AM ceramic, Sandia has already opened the door to printing ceramic shapes and parts previously impossible to produce,” said Shawn Allan, Vice President of Lithoz America. “We look forward to seeing their future achievements with the greater capacity of a second Lithoz printer!”