Meet the Future of Tough PolyJet™ Materials

Prototypes are a necessary part of the production process. The more design changes and flaws that are caught during this stage, the less it will cost later on. The last thing you or your client wants is a faulty product which could require a costly recall.

Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, has been used for prototypes since the earliest machines came out in the 1980s. The design freedom and fast iteration makes 3D printing a perfect solution for rapid prototyping.

Typically, one machine can’t do the whole prototype, however. You need to compromise on something, such as:

Surface finish
Strength
Speed and/or number of iterations
Color accuracy
Material (using matearials that don't match the final product)

You could use several printers and machines to create different parts of your prototype, but the complexity of managing multiple machines, materials, and processes can be overwhelming. There’s a constant concern that something will go wrong, either during printing or assembly. The last thing you want is a bad prototype wasting time and resources.

Bossplate 3D printed with ToughONE Polyjet Material

PolyJet: All-in-One 3D Printing

That’s where PolyJet comes in. With full digital control down to the voxel level , PolyJet (with GrabCAD software) let’s you stop compromising on realistic prototyping.

Full color: PolyJet uses multiple printing heads with different base resins to enable full Pantone-validated color prototypes as well as transparency.
Multi-material: PolyJet’s parallel printer heads also let you print a single model out of various materials. You could mix the materials digitally to change the part properties, or you might simply want to print different sections of the prototype with different materials to simulate the real complexities of the final product.
Labeling: Whether it’s part of the final product design, or simply an internal labeling protocol to keep track of iterations, the ability to print multiple colors in one pass lets you easily label the model without changing the fundamental geometry.
Smart insert: This feature refers to the ability to program space in your build to insert something not 3D printed, like a PCB board or design element.
Print an oject: You can 3D print direcelty onto a substrate linke wood, metal, or fabric.

ToughONE™: All-in-One Functional Prototypes

If there’s one aspect of prototypes that wasn’t mentioned yet, it’s functional prototyping. Models that behave like the final product are crucial for testing your product before it’s released.

PolyJet’s new ToughONE material is the perfect solution for functional prototyping.

With a notched Izod impact of up to 250 J/cm and HDT up to 77 °C (depending on the setup and curing), ToughONE can handle real life testing like shock absorption and impact resistance, enabling the creation of robust and durable prototypes

With ToughONE, PolyJet printers can truly create a full, functional prototype in a single print. No more compromising on sub-par prototypes. No more worrying about coordinating various machines and getting the assembly just right. Simply press print and get your design process back on track.