Stratasys Fortus 380mc Carbon Fiber Dedicated to Filled Material
The Fortus 380mc Carbon Fiber Edition (CFE) 3D printer has been optimized to process carbon fiber-filled Nylon 12.
Using carbon fiber-filled Nylon 12, parts made with the Fortus 380mc CFE exhibit a high stiffness-to-weight ratio.
For both IndyCar and NASCAR circuits, Team Penske uses Stratasys FDM and carbon-fiber-filled Nylon 12 for strong, lightweight parts.
The carbon-fiber based composite enabled Team Penske to produce lightweight mirror housings, such as this custom printed mirror for the #22 Discount Tire car in the previous slide, with high impact resistance and high stiffness, each of which is critical in motorsports.
Stratasys has introduced the Fortus 380mc Carbon Fiber Edition (CFE), an industrial additive manufacturing system dedicated to carbon fiber-filled Nylon 12, a material that is 35 percent chopped carbon fiber by weight. The system is also compatible with ASA thermoplastic.
The Fortus 380 CFE 3D printer prints carbon fiber-filled parts with a 0.010" (0.254-mm) layer thickness within its 14" × 12" × 12" (355 × 305 × 305-mm) build chamber. The system offers water-soluble support material removal, eliminating the need to remove the supports manually. This in turn enables the creation of fine and intricate geometries not possible without the support material, because fine features could be destroyed during cleaning or intricate geometries might make support removal too laborious or impossible to remove, the company says.
Applications for carbon fiber-filled Nylon 12 may include functional prototyping of composite or metal parts; short production runs; lightweight assembly tools designed for better ergonomics and reduced worker fatigue; replacing metal parts with a high-strength, lightweight alterative. Stratasys expects that its Fortus 380 CFE 3D printer will be used by manufacturers producing tooling and fixtures in industries including automotive, recreational sporting equipment, marine, orthosis and prothesis, defense, aerospace, medical equipment, and oil and gas.
