From March 8-11, 2020, the RadTech 2020 UV+EB Technology Conference will showcase advancing ultraviolet and electron beam technologies for 3D printing and additive manufacturing.
Set to take place at Disney Coronado Springs in Orlando, Florida, the biennial conference, now in its 17th edition, combines cutting edge material and chemistry developments with insights from leaders across the commercial landscape. Organized by UV+EB photopolymer chemistry nonprofit RadTech, this conference will also gather leading engineers and senior scientists to share their perspectives on new technologies.
3D Printing at RadTech 2020 UV+EB
With 80 exhibitors and more than 100 presentations, the latest innovations in UV LEDs, 3D printing materials, printing and packaging, coatings, and formulations will be featured at RadTech 2020 UV+EB. Academic educational opportunities will also be available with undergraduate and graduate-level polymer chemistry programs as well as a course on Design of Experiments.
A track dedicated to 3D printing will be presented with experts on high-temperature materials, automotive applications, and resin development. Companies including BASF, Sartomer, Henkel, Evonik, and Lubrizol are set to be sharing the stage with NIST, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in addition to a selection of scientists representing national and international academic institutions.
Research from emerging fields including volumetric additive manufacturing (VAM) will be presented by Caitlyn Cook, a materials research engineer from LLNL. According to Cook’s studies, this technology holds the promise of parts ready in “10s to 100s of seconds”. Panels on the significance of post-curing and broadening the process chains will also be held.
”The drive to move 3D Printing to large scale industrial production seems to have accelerated,” stated Dr. Mike J. Idacavage, President of Radtech and founder of Radical Curing LLC. Dr. Idacavage also highlights a broadening material palette combined with hardware innovation as key factors hastening industrial adoption.
Emerging technologies in Photopolymer Additive Manufacturing
Rachel Davis, senior chemist at Azul 3D, the developer of High Area Rapid Printing (HARP), has described a conference session set to take place on the 9th of March on emerging applications in Photopolymer Additive Manufacturing (PAM) as a fertile learning ground. Joining Davis to discuss topics ranging from “displacing traditional injection molding, to making necessary custom medical devices” are experts from Walt Disney Imagineering, 3D Systems, and Adaptive3D. Davis added,
“The community members of RadTech are all very friendly and helpful. This will be my first RadTech UV+EB Conference, and I am excited to not only participate as a panelist but also as an exhibitor representing Azul 3D and our recent selection for the RadLaunch Start-up Technology Accelerator Class of 2020.”
In addition, Dr. Callie Higgins, NIST Materials Research Engineer, will host a panel delving deeper into photopolymer additive manufacturing. Dr. Higgins explained, “By attending my talk, attendees will gain a broader understanding of the voxel-scale challenges inherent to photopolymer AM. It will also equip them with the tools to overcome these challenges, which harness the relationship between light intensity and photopolymerization. In doing so, the photopolymer AM community can now begin to develop advanced materials with user-defined properties throughout a given print.”
RadTech 2020 UV+EB is also a place to get a solid take on future developments. As stated by Dr. Idacavage, there are difficulties in staying current in fields pertaining to UV-LED, resin materials, and photoinitiators; nonetheless, this is expected to yield new applications and improved industrial processes. As a result, sessions addressing lower cost, sustainable UV and EB curable resins will be conducted for greater insights.
For more information and to register for the RadTech 2020 UV+EB Technology Conference, click here.
Featured image shows scenes from previous RadTech UV+EB Technology Conferences. Image via RadTech.
