EOS’ Digital Foam Flexible Lattice Polymer Enables Mass Customizations

EOS’ Digital Foam features a patented 3D printed flexible lattice design that enables a variety of customized consumer goods, including protective gear, high-performance, bespoke athletic footwear and more.

The material is well suited for any generatively 3D printed object which has a flexible grid-like structure or matrix (for example, a lattice), composed of open cells that are joined together in groups of differing characteristics. In basic terms, this covers any varying 3D printed lattice structures morphing into each other.

Whether applied to polymers or metals, the material covers the additive manufacturing of any three-dimensional object that has a lattice structure designed for predetermined flexibility characteristics with other filings.

The material was developed to enable unprecedented manufacturing customization opportunities or tailored products. Designers are able to make groups of cells, creating a lattice that can be engineered with varying levels of compressibility, the company says. One example is in athletic footwear, where consumers can purchase footwear tailored to their specific needs or desired performance characteristics. This includes shoe soles with varying compressibility in the heel, toe and arch areas, all made in one additively manufactured piece.

The company says this material enables manufacturers to provide product differentiation and improved product performance characteristics, including safety, comfort, lightweighting and “tuneability.”