Stratasys Japan Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Stratasys Ltd, yesterday announced the launch of the ground-breaking Objet500 Connex3 Color Multi-material 3D Printer capable of combining colours with multi-material 3D printing and high capacity production.
Image credit: Stratasys
According to the news release on the PR Newswire, the new Objet500 Connex3 is the most versatile 3D printer in the world, uniquely equipped to combine droplets of three base materials to produce parts with virtually unlimited combinations of rigid, flexible, and transparent colour materials as well as colour digital materials- all in a single print run.
The Objet500 Connex3 3D printer, which was revealed at SolidWorks 2014, delivers unparalleled colour product realism for better decision making, design improvement and manufacturing efficiency, saving a great deal of money and time in the process.
“Stratasys’ goal is to help our customers revolutionize their design and manufacturing processes,” says Jonathan Jaglom, General Manager, Asia Pacific & Japan at Stratasys AP Ltd.
“I believe our new Objet500 Connex3 Color Multi-material 3D Printer will transform the way our customers design, engineer and manufacture new products. In general and with the Connex technology in particular, we will continue to push the envelope of what’s possible in a 3D world.”
Engineers at beta user Trek Bicycle in Waterloo, Wisconsin are using the Objet500 Connex3 Color Multi-material 3D Printer for assessment and testing of accessories like bike chain stay guards and handlebar grips prior to actual production.
“The Objet500 Connex3 Color Multi-material 3D Printer changed the way we manufacture at Trek, augmenting our traditional, time-consuming CNC processes with fast, iterative and realistic prototyping and functional testing,” says Mike Zeigle, manager of Trek’s prototype development group.
“Now we produce bicycle parts that look and feel like production parts. We are particularly excited about 3D printing our models directly in colour. This gives our designers the ability to graphically display colour contact pressure map data on rider contact parts like seats and grips. We are also working on doing the same with FEA & CFD stress data on structural bike components.”
The Objet500 Connex3 Color Multi-material 3D Printer uses three base materials- VeroCyan, VeroMajenta and VeroYellow- to produce hundreds of vivid colours. These colour materials join Stratasys’ impressive range of PolyJet photopolymer materials including digital materials, rigid, rubber-like, transparent, and high temperature materials to simulate standard and high temperature engineering plastics.
In addition, the Objet500 Connex3 also features six palettes for new rubber-like Tango colours, ranging from opaque to transparent colours in various shore values to address markets such as automotive, consumer and sporting goods and fashion.
“Since its introduction in 2007, the Objet Connex Multi-material 3D printing platform has paved the way for the development of advanced 3D printing materials with unique mechanical and thermal properties,” says Stratasys Sr. VP of R&D for PolyJet Igal Zeitun.
“The Objet500 Connex3 Color Multi-material 3D Printer produces models and parts using photopolymers in vivid colours so you can create colourful models from investigating concepts to pre-production pilot runs.”
More information about the Objet500 Connex3 Color Multi-material 3D Printer is available at: www.stratasys.com
