As Forward AM, the company will offer end-to-end materials and service solutions along the entire value chain, from initial product idea through to serial manufacture. Forward AM has an extensive materials portfolio, encompassing powder-bed fusion, advanced plastic and metal filaments, and the latest photopolymers.
The range comprises the entire virtual engineering service spectrum, from a component’s initial design concept (‘Design for AM’), through simulation (‘Ultrasim’) including printing and finishing, all the way to scanning and testing.
Furthermore, from Q1 2020 the B3DPS portfolio will be complemented by an advanced flexible coating. This coating is especially suited to flexible materials such as elastic Ultrasint TPU 01, which was developed in collaboration with HP for the Jet Fusion 3D printer. The coating can be used in special applications and will be available from Forward AM in black, white, metallic silver and transparent.
Forward AM is also set to expand its thermoplastic Ultrafuse filament portfolio, starting with the test-marketing of Ultrafuse TPU 95A, Ultrafuse ABS ESD and Ultrafuse PEI 9085. The company will be making sample volumes available as of January 2020, with larger volumes provided from the end of Q1 2020. Moreover, Forward AM specialists will deliver live presentations of its newly developed ceramic filament to Formnext visitors.
At this year’s Formnext, visitors to the stand can view example application highlights from Forward AM, as well as the latest customer components from a range of sectors. For example, engine brackets developed in collaboration with Daimler have triggered intense interest in the automotive industry and beyond. The polyamide series Ultrasint PA6 MF material applied here represents an attractive solution to many manufacturing industries thanks to its rigidity and robustness, as well as its ease of application on Farsoon high-temperature printers.
Forward AM’s experts will be demonstrating the possibilities and added value of these and other sample 3D-printing applications. In addition, interested visitors can find out more about the economic advantages of industrial additive-based manufacturing through clear use cases such as a camera housing made with Ultracur3D, which was subjected to a detailed production economics analysis in collaboration with Origin.
