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One-piece wonder: World's longest continuous 3D-printed chain created

By Mike Foley, Editor, Designfax

If you want to launch a new 3D-printing material, try to get yourself in the news. EnvisionTEC, a global manufacturer of desktop and full-production 3D printers and materials, did just that last week, when the Detroit-based company rolled out its E-RigidForm polyurethane-like resin and demonstrated its properties by creating the longest 3D-printed continuous chain.

The 328-ft EnvisionTEC Mega-Chain took more than two weeks to design and features 6,144 links, each measuring 1.5 in. It was printed in 16 layers unattended over 99 hours spanning more than four days. The project was so complex it required a computer with extreme processing power to generate the layers and supports for the print job.

The continuous chain in the design stage.

 

 

The chain was designed by EnvisionTEC 3D Builder Robert Montes with digital processing and 3D-printing support from colleagues Erica Finkowski, Jason Spurlock, and Josue Nunes. The company's proprietary software, "Perfactory RP," was used to design all those interlocking links into a block form, and the chain was 3D printed on EnvisionTEC's largest resin printer, an Xede 3SP, which offers a build area of 18 in. x 18 in. x 18 in.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
EnvisionTEC Mega-Chain by the numbers
2 -- weeks to design
6,144 links -- each 1.5-in. long
16 -- number of chain print layers
5,832 cubic in. -- the build volume of the Xede 3SP build
328 -- final number of length in ft for the chain
1 -- number of attempts to print the job successfully
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The RigidForm 3D material prints hard and stiff parts. It is ideal for both prototypes and end-use parts. With a high tensile strength of 68-73 MPa at 7 percent elongation at break, E-RigidForm is one of the most durable printing materials ever developed in 3D printing, according to EnvisionTEC. The strength of E-RigidForm enabled EnvisionTEC to 3D print the world's longest resin chain in a single piece. Weaker materials would have sagged during printing such a long and heavy item, causing a print failure.

Josue Nunes checks out the printed chain before it is broken apart.

 

 

"E-RigidForm is a breakthrough material for use on our 3SP line of 3D printers, which offer very large build areas without sacrificing speed and accuracy," said EnvisionTEC CEO Al Siblani. "A print job of this size and complexity would not have been possible before, simply because of the stiffness required during the 3D-printing process for so many links and layers."

Post-processing consisted of separating and cleaning up the edges of the linked chain pieces.

 

 

The Mega-Chain will be on display this week (April 24-26) in Fort Worth, Texas, at RAPID + TCT, a premier event for 3D manufacturing in North America.

VIDEO: A test print of a 40-ft chain was made using E-RigidForm Charcoal.

E-RigidForm joins an industry-leading materials portfolio at EnvisionTEC that now features 50 materials. The company recently clarified its collection of materials, focusing on those that deliver the best performance and functionality for their applications, such as:

• Prototypes and end-use parts,
• Investment casting,
• High heat resistance,
• Thin walls and high detail,
• Transparency,
• Tooling for molds,
• Jigs and fixtures,
• Specific hardness requirements, or
• Specific medical uses.

In the dental, hearing aid, and bioprinting markets, EnvisionTEC offers CE- and FDA-approved biocompatible materials, including materials suitable for long-term use in the body.

Source: EnvisionTEC

Published April 2018

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