Industries and applications for Liquid Additive Manufacturing

From the automotive industry to medical technology, from micro-seals to shoe soles: silicone rubber has become indispensable in many areas. The material owes this to its unique properties. Because silicone rubber does not stick, is elastic, odorless and physiologically harmless– to name just a few of its features. This means that the possible applications for additively manufactured high-viscosity components are almost unlimited.

The LAM 3D printer LiQ 320 is successfully used in the following industries, among others, for the production of liquid silicone rubber components manufactured with additives. The range of applications is being successively expanded.

Dichtungen

Seal made of liquid silicone rubber
Liquid Additive Manufacturing Shoe manufacturer

Schuhhersteller

Shoe sole made of liquid silicone rubber

Prototypen

Gripper made of liquid silicone rubber

Medizintechnik

Mouth-nose-mask-cover made of liquid silicone rubber

Learn about the application areas for Liquid Additive Manufacturing invarious industries:

Seals

Silicones are used as sealants not only in the construction industry. The electrical industry uses silicones to protect electronic components from extreme heat, salt, corrosion and contamination. In the process, seals are becoming smaller and smaller and the shapes more and more complex – and in some cases with small batch sizes of n ≥ 1. Manufacturers must be able to adapt quickly to this development and offer the right solution.

Shoe manufacturer

In shoe manufacturing, individually manufactured insoles are in demand. The additively manufactured midsoles made of a heat-curing 2K silicone can be produced to fit any foot precisely. Here, too, the consistently positive properties of silicone rubber come into play: the cushioning properties of the sole are just as good as on the first day, even after countless kilometers.

Prototypes

In industries with continuous development, advanced and optimized manufacturing of complex prototypes and special tools for production is essential. With the help of additive manufacturing, prototypes can be developed specifically in industry. In this way, readiness for series production is achieved in a time- and cost-saving manner.

Medical Technology

Medical technology is also one of the areas of application for liquid additive manufacturing. Additive manufacturing has opened up unimaginable possibilities in recent years. Free of geometries, solutions can be rethought and implemented. The only prerequisite: The print object must be designed or redesigned to match the additive.

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Automation Solutions

Additive manufacturing has already taken a rapid development due to the improvement of printing processes and the related mechanical systems. Lot size “1” is no longer the only goal. It is more about the production of components from small to medium lot sizes. The advantage is that the components can have the same technical functional properties as conventionally manufactured components.

In the additive manufacturing of components from liquid silicone, the components produced by the LiQ 320 are almost identical to components produced by injection molding.

Thanks to the thermal curing integrated into the printing process, the 3D-printed components are ready for immediate use. This advantage of the LiQ 320 opens up a wide range of possibilities for increasing productivity with automation.

Maximum automation through perfect conjunction of production technology, control technology and robotics with the LiQ 320 printing system:

Simultaneous operation of several printing systems can turn a single production printer into an entire production cell.

Thanks to intelligent control technology and with the help of robots, the production cell can manufacture almost 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The maximum output of components can be scaled. This is based on the desired output, taking into account the geometry-dependent printing time of the component.

 

Be inspired by our automation solutions for maximum productivity in the additive manufacturing of components made of liquid silicone.

Your innovatiQ contact person will be happy to provide you with further information. Simply fill out the contact form!