Each main industrial period has been enabled by its supplies. Iron and metal outlined the mechanical age; Silicon is powering the digital one. Now, as manufacturing redefines itself across the wants of subsequent era {hardware}, supplies are once more taking centre stage.
Throughout the additive manufacturing trade, supplies innovation in chemistry, formulation and processing are altering what’s doable. Excessive-temperature polymers rival metals in efficiency, bio-derived resins and recycled powders minimize carbon with out compromising energy. {Hardware} is evolving, nevertheless it’s the fabric that decides whether or not an thought strikes from CAD and turns into a product.
Subsequent era {hardware} will demand versatile manufacturing strategies that each ship the precise elements in the present day and have the flexibleness to deal with no matter comes tomorrow.
Supplies are the limiting issue… and the chance
Since its inception additive manufacturing was constrained by materials efficiency. The elements typically regarded spectacular, however most weren’t licensed or constant sufficient for true end-use functions. The breadth of supplies was no the place close to that for different established manufacturing applied sciences in each polymers and metals.
That’s altering. At present, new formulations are attaining mechanical properties as soon as reserved for injection-moulded plastics and forged metals. Enhanced repeatability that makes them appropriate for manufacturing runs, not simply prototypes.
Producers are additionally starting to consider finest use what’s out there as a substitute of demanding the ‘outdated’ materials. Engineers now ask whether or not the out there materials delivers the thermal, chemical or mechanical behaviour the appliance calls for. Those that discover the precise match are gaining the flexibility to localise manufacturing, simplify provide chains and ship tailor-made elements on demand.
It’s one thing of a quiet revolution: much less seen than a brand new machine launch, however much more consequential.
Our strategy
Shapeways has lengthy been on the intersection of that shift. Our platform is constructed not solely on machines, however on the supplies that run by them. Each new addition to our portfolio is guided by a easy precept: enable extra challenges to be tackled with additive manufacturing.
The newest growth introduces 4 industrial-grade supplies that proceed this pattern: SAF™ Polypropylene (PP), SAF™ Nylon 11 (PA11), Somos® Watershed Black, and Somos® Watershed XC 11122. Every arrives with distinct properties that open new doorways for designers and engineers.
Polypropylene brings one of many world’s most typical manufacturing polymers to the desk. It’s light-weight, fatigue-resistant, and chemically secure, preferrred for elements that flex, seal or interface with liquids. Nylon 11 provides affect resistance and ductility, making it appropriate for protecting housings, versatile joints and structural elements that must survive repeated loading.
The 2 Somos supplies prolong our attain into visible and optical territories. Watershed Black affords a superb floor end and robust dimensional accuracy for housings and enclosures the place aesthetics matter. Watershed XC pushes into transparency, enabling mild guides, lenses, and fluidic units the place readability is practical, not ornamental.
Additive manufacturing supplies innovation is pushing design envelopes
The newest FDM additions (PPA-CF (carbon-fibre-reinforced polyphthalamide) and PPS-CF (carbon-fibre-reinforced polyphenylene sulfide)) proceed the supplies innovation momentum. Each are designed for demanding environments the place warmth, chemical substances and mechanical stress rule out commonplace polymers.Â
PPA-CF delivers energy, stiffness and dimensional stability at roughly half the burden of aluminium, with warmth deflection temperatures (HDTs) as much as 188°C, making it preferrred for structural brackets, housings and light-weight tooling. PPS-CF goes even additional, with HDTs round 252°C, UL 94 V-0 flame retardancy and wonderful chemical resistance. This mix is suited to automotive, aerospace, industrial and digital elements uncovered to harsh circumstances.Â
Every of those supplies represents greater than one other SKU in a listing — they’re constructing blocks for merchandise that may transfer shortly and instantly from digital idea to industrial manufacturing, with out compromise.
Why materials innovation defines the subsequent period
The large image is that the frontier of additive manufacturing not lies within the mechanics of printing, however within the supplies science of what’s being printed.
Because the resilience of worldwide provide chains continues to be questioned, commerce obstacles erected and manufacturing more and more seen as a nationwide safety problem the flexibility to provide stronger, lighter and extra localised elements is changing into a aggressive differentiator. The businesses that thrive on this atmosphere will likely be people who embrace the palette of supplies out there to them and embed them of their design logic.
That’s what Shapeways’ Subsequent Era {Hardware} imaginative and prescient captures: a future the place efficiency and manufacturing agility converge, the place supplies innovation turns digital flexibility into bodily actuality.
The machines will maintain enhancing in fact, nevertheless it’s the fabric that units the tempo. Each new formulation expands the boundaries of design and reshapes how merchandise are made, distributed and maintained. In that sense, supplies aren’t simply a part of the story of Subsequent Era {Hardware}, they’re the inspiration of it.
