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FILLED LIQUID PROTOTYPING MATERIALS FOR A BROADER APPLICATION RANGE EMERGE ON THE NEAR HORIZON
04 June 2003 - DSM Somos
| DSM Somos®, world leaders in innovative materials technology for the rapid prototyping industry, has announced that it is nearing commercialization of Somos® ProtoComposites™, liquid materials containing fillers allowing for a broader range of applications. |
ProtoComposites™ are complex materials in which two or more distinct, complementary substances, especially metals, ceramics, glasses or polymers, combine to produce functional properties not possible using individual components. ProtoComposite materials are a result of spending a significant amount of time and resources investigating the potential for ACT-SL™, Advanced Composite Technology for StereoLithography. Initially, the Somos® ProtoComposites™ family will consist of two product groups: Somos® ProtoTool™ and Somos® SolidCast™. Somos® ProtoTool™ is a filled material with high heat resistance providing “best-of-class” tensile strength, flexural strength and modulus plus a high Heat Deflection Temperature (HDT) greater than 517 degrees F at 66 psi. ProtoTool™ has been developed as an answer to the problem represented by current resins that lose significant strength during the thermal cycling necessary to achieve high HDT. In contrast, ProtoTool™ offers high HDT with superior strength. Ideal applications include direct tooling as well as creation of strong, rigid parts. Somos® SolidCast™, is hollow-spherically-filled material with low density and excellent investment casting pattern properties. SolidCast™ will enable solid investment casting material that eliminates drainage and sealing concerns associated with a honeycomb structure, enhancing accuracy and surface quality. Moreover, this material is characterized by a low density capable of producing large parts without the weight associated with other resins. This is a key response to marketplace demands in that current resins have a density that averages 1.1 g/cm3 which results in formation of large heavy parts, whereas SolidCast has a density of approximately 0.6 g/cm3. SolidCast™ can therefore form large, lightweight parts.
http://www.dsmsomos.com
About: DSM Somos
DSM Somos is an unincorporated division of DSM Desotech—a world leader in the development of UV-curable materials—and a member of the global DSM family.
DSM Somos is currently the world's second largest materials supplier to the rapid prototyping industry, providing stereolithography liquids and
selective laser sintering powders used for the creation of three dimensional models and prototypes directly from digital data. Somos' patented ProtoFunctional materials are used by a variety of industries, including automotive, aerospace, medical and telecommunications. DSM Somos has developed a full line of rapid prototyping materials that replicate the performance parameters of production materials, saving both time and money in new product development. From thermoplastic elastomers to polyethylene and polypropylene, DSM Somos has stereolithography and selective laser sintering technologies. The Somos business has been actively involved in the development of rapid prototyping materials since the late 1980s, from the introduction of the first commercial Somos stereolithography resin in 1992. DSM Somos is part of DSM Desotech, a leading innovative formulator and manufacturer of high quality ultraviolet and electron beam (UV/EB) curable materials. DSM Desotech is a business unit of DSM - an international chemicals and materials group headquartered in The Netherlands, with annual sales of EUR 8.1 billion and a work force of approximately 22,000 employees at more than 200 sites worldwide. DSM is active worldwide in life science and nutritional products, performance materials and industrial chemicals. The company specializes in innovative products and services that help improve the quality of life and DSM products are currently used in a wide range of end markets and applications such as human and animal nutrition and health, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, automotive and transport, coatings, housing and electrics & electronics (E&E). The group has annual sales (pro forma including the recent acquisition - renamed DSM Nutritional Products) of approximately EUR 8 billion and employs about 26,000 people around the world. Ranking among the global leaders in many of its fields, DSM is headquartered in the Netherlands, with locations in Europe, Asia and the Americas. |
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