3D printing for the factory floor

Leveraging the strength of carbon fiber

Your goals are clear: high productivity and worker safety, low cost and materials that can withstand the rigors of a manufacturing environment. Traditional manufacturing has its place but it’s not the only path to strong parts. Additive manufacturing (AM) using carbon fiber-filled nylon material 3D prints strong, lightweight parts with a high strength-to-weight ratio for rapid prototyping, short-run production parts and even production-grade parts. Factory floors that capitalize on the powerful combination of traditional machining and additive manufacturing realize the most efficient, cost-effective scenario. 3D printing with carbon fiber gives you strong, complex, customizable parts for needs ranging from functional prototypes to full production runs. You can reduce the weight of tools and manufacturing aids and customize them so they’re more ergonomic, comfortable and easy to use. The lightweight strength and stiffness of carbon fiber-filled material enables a streamlined process from initial design all the way through manufacturing. Your floor becomes more efficient. Barriers are eliminated, cost and lead times are cut and worker lost-time injuries are reduced. This solution brief demonstrates not only the benefits of 3D printing with high strength-to-weight materials like carbon fiber, but also provides a path to a full-circle solution integrating 3D printing on your factory floor.

The strength of your material matters

Carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic meets the demanding needs of the production environment and can be a replacement for metal tooling. With a blend of Nylon 12 resin and chopped carbon fiber, at a loading of 35% by weight, this material has the highest flexural strength of any FDM® thermoplastic. Carbon Fiber delivers the strength and stiffness you need for rigid tools, prototypes and production parts. Even functional prototypes for the frame rails on a OneWheel motion device.

Know the limits of traditional manufacuring
Keep your factory floor humming

Rapid prototyping may be the AM term you’re most familiar with but it isn’t the only rapid process for 3D printing. Thanks to strong material properties such as carbon fiber, rapid tooling can mean less downtime when tools fail. 3D print replacement parts fast that have the strength necessary to hold up in a production environment. Jigs and fixtures 3D printed with FDM Nylon 12 Carbon Fiber are not only lightweight but have the strength to get the job done, either as stop-gap replacement tools or functional prototypes.

Reduce downtime
Downtime is lost revenue. With 3D printing you can have your part replaced in a fraction of the time of traditional tooling methods. All with user-friendly software that makes everyone a 3D printing expert.

Increase efficiencies
Need a new tool to improve your line efficiency? With 3D printing you can design in GrabCAD Print™, then move seamlessly to print, all in less time than traditional manufacturing with comparable strength and less cost.

Decrease waste
Additive manufacturing by its very nature is less wasteful than traditional machining. Instead of cutting material away to form a piece, material is added layer-by-layer to form a part that has essentially no waste. This is not only more cost-effective but more green.

The right material can drive design
Thule embraces FDM Nylon 12 Carbon Fiber

A big user of 3D printing, one hurdle remained for the outdoor company, Thule – the ability to print prototypes with the stiffness and strength of fiber- or glassreinforced injection molded parts that would enable the company to perform functional testing. Early adopters of FDM Nylon 12 Carbon Fiber, the company can now move beyond design validation to actual roadtesting of clamp mechanisms for products like their rooftop kayak rack.

Use case highlight Utah Trikes

The ability to use Stratasys FDM Nylon 12 Carbon Fiber in all stages of the manufacturing process gives Utah Trikes more time to perfect their designs. The company uses 3D printed nylon 12 carbon fiber for prototypes, tooling and short-run production parts due to its superior mechanical properties. Being a manufacturer of customized products, 3D printing with FDM Nylon 12 Carbon Fiber gives Utah Trikes the ability to reduce product development time.

Multiply your tooling capabilities

Tooling applications are one of the largest opportunities you have to gain the time, cost and ergonomic efficiencies of 3D printing. Because Stratasys 3D printers work with a broad variety of thermoplastics, including high-strength carbon fiber nylon, PEKK and ULTEM™ resins, you can apply 3D printing to multiple tooling applications.

Common manufacturing aids like holding fixtures and other production line tools are easily implemented and represent a vast opportunity for savings with 3D printing. Essential to the production process, these tools are usually prevalent on the factory floor. However, they are typically expensive and time-consuming to produce when made with traditional methods and materials and can be 3D printed more quickly, for less cost, and easily optimized for worker safety and efficiency.

Beyond common manufacturing aids you’ll also find additional opportunities among more specialized tooling applications that include the following:

Thermoforming tools
These tools are usually made from wood, RenShape board, cast aluminum or machined aluminum billet and are usually expensive, with long production lead times.

Hydroforming tools
Hydroform tooling made from aluminum or other metals requires considerable time to program for CNC machining, particularly for complex shapes, and results in considerable material waste.

Composite tooling
Used to form composite structures, this tooling is usually bulky, heavy and costly with lead times consisting of weeks or even months depending on size and complexity.

These applications are well-suited for 3D printed replacements s for limited-run production or to evaluate designs prior to investing in highcost hard tooling. High-strength materials like FDM Nylon 12 Carbon Fiber are strong enough to replace metal tools in certain applications. ULTEM 1010 resin is capable of autoclave cure and provides a much more cost-effective way to make lightweight composite lay-up tools.

Manufacturing-ready 3D printers

Many manufacturers believe the status quo is good enough; is your company making this costly mistake? The truth is that 3D printing, often alongside time-proven technologies, is essential to efficient manufacturing. In the race to zero inventory and point-of-use creation, traditional manufacturing cannot compete with the time and cost savings of 3D printing. In addition to the design freedom and cost and weight savings of additive manufacturing, Stratasys FDM printers complement existing technologies and give you the power to lower production cost, reduce time-to-market, increase manufacturing efficiency and trim supply chains. The Stratasys F900™ is MTConnect-ready, so you have full factory floor connectivity. Our broad material selection lets you cost-effectively match your design requirements with the right material, from economical engineering-grade materials to advanced, high-performance polymers like carbon fiber nylon, PEKK and ULTEM™. GrabCAD Print software makes it easy to go straight from CAD model to finished print while giving you access to critical print information.

Need help realizing the full potential of 3D printing for your factory floor? Let Stratasys Expert Services’ Strategy Consulting or Operations Consulting teams validate 3D printing for your business and help map specific areas ripe for AM integration on your factory floor.

What’s your current manufacturing methodology costing you? Contact a Stratasys representative and see how 3D printing can lower your costs