Given the speed and materials possible with continuous liquid interface production (CLIP)—the groundbreaking 3D printing tech developed by Carbon—it’s not surprising that large manufacturers such as BMW and Delphi Automotive have taken the tech on board for prototyping and short-run production.
Now, more customers will have access to CLIP 3D printing as the California startup expands its network of 3D printing service bureaus.
While CLIP first made headlines for the ability to print complete objects in less than 10 minutes, the physical properties of Carbon’s materials have since become of prime importance for those looking for prints with qualities that rival injection molding. These properties are achieved through two important elements in the CLIP process.
CLIP is a digital light processing (DLP) technology that sees a photopolymer resin cured when exposed to UV light. CLIP differs from other DLP techniques via the use of an oxygen-permeable window that both speeds up the process and allows for the printing of layerless parts. In turn, CLIP components are isotropic; they don’t suffer from the weakness across the Z-axis that plagues objects made with most other 3D printing techniques. In other words, these parts are equally strong in every direction, not just the X- and Y-axes.
Read more at ENGINEERING.com
