Global chemical firm Henkel has announced a collaboration with 3D printer manufacturer Carbon to validate its Loctite branded materials for use with Carbon’s Digital Light Synthesis (DLS) 3D printing technology.
Carbon customers will be immediately able to use Henkel’s new Loctite 3D IND405 Clear material, as the partnership paves the way for access to Henkel’s patented single-component technologies within the DLS additive manufacturing process.
“Henkel is a leading provider of single-component technologies for additive manufacturing,” said Dr. Simon Mawson, senior vice president and head of 3D printing at Henkel. “Our expanded partnership with Carbon allows us to deliver Loctite solutions to customers in the aerospace, automotive, industrial, and medical markets.
“Together we offer an efficient additive manufacturing workflow that facilitates the production of durable end-use parts.”
Henkel’s Loctite 3D IND405 Clear
Now certified for Carbon 3D printers, Loctite 3D IND405 Clear is a tough, semirigid material produced as a one-part resin, making the clear polymer easily printable through Carbon’s DLS process. The material is suitable for printing enclosures and housings, light pipe and bottle prototypes, and jigs and fixtures for production floors, in addition to a variety of other applications.
“We are excited to be partnering with Henkel to add this material to our portfolio of resins,” added Dr. Jason Rolland, senior vice president of materials at Carbon. “Our customers have asked us for a clear material that is tough, durable, and high-impact resistant. Loctite 3D IND405 meets those needs, and we’re committed to continuing to provide product developers the widest range of best-in-class materials.”
The partnership
Henkel currently offers a growing portfolio of resins for photopolymer 3D printing under the Loctite brand. The firm hopes that by combining its materials with Carbon’s DLS printing process, manufacturers and product developers will be able to bring enhanced products to market in a shorter time frame. A secondary aim of the partnership is to ramp up the adoption of additive manufacturing on a larger scale.
Carbon’s customers will now be able to access Henkel’s patented single-component materials to build upon Carbon’s own portfolio of resins.
“We believe that the single-component technologies from Loctite, coupled with the Carbon DLS process, provide a best-in-class solution that enables higher precision, better functionality, and outstanding economics,” added Mawson. “Together that puts us in a great position to deliver on additive manufacturing’s promise to transform industrial manufacturing.”
Carbon’s Digital Light Synthesis technology
Silicon Valley-based Carbon unveiled its DLS additive manufacturing process in 2015, a rapid 3D printing technology that controls oxygen and light to produce end-use parts from a resin pool.
In 2018, Carbon released its first medical-grade material for use within its DLS process, accompanying its FDA-approved 3D printable DENTCA resins. That year, the firm also announced a partnership with National Dentex Labs (NDX), in a bid to ramp up the competition in the rapidly growing additive manufacturing dental market.
More recently, on-demand digital manufacturing provider Protolabs added the DLS 3D printing platform to its portfolio of production-grade additive manufacturing technologies, leveraging it to create fully functional parts on a larger scale.
The firm’s technology has also been applied widely throughout the consumer 3D printing sector for some time. Last year, Carbon used DLS to 3D print a bike saddle for U.S. bike brand fizik, and also signed a 3D printed product partnership with leading bicycle manufacturer Specialized. In addition to cycling, Carbon 3D printed the world’s first NHL-certified hockey helmet liner earlier last month using DLS, having previously helped to create a new luxury eyewear product line for J of JINS in Japan.
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Featured image shows Loctite 3D IND405 Clear parts printed with the Carbon DLS process (post-processed parts courtesy of ProtoCAM). Image via Henkel.
