Introducing ULTEM 9085 in Black!

All the things you like about ULTEM, but in black!

ULTEM 9085 from SABIC Innovative Plastics has superior strength, is light weight, and has other desirable characteristics, including FST rating. The FST (flame, smoke and toxicity) rating is a safety standard that ensures a material won't promote a fire, release harmful smoke, or emit toxic fumes, and it is particularly valued in the transportation industries.

"The majority of our tan ULTEM users have requested the material also be available in black, because it gives a uniform look to product assemblies," said Fred Fischer, business development director at Stratasys. "It also helps mask dirt or grease found in mechanical systems or under the hood, in the fuselage, or on the manufacturing floor. For many users, the black color will eliminate the need for non-value-added post-processing step of painting or coating."

Truck fender and accessory manufacturer, Minimizer, uses ULTEM when creating both fender and mounting component prototypes. Mounting brackets are commonly made from glass fiber and tough, rigid plastics, which can be a challenge to prototype, according to Minimizer mechanical engineer, Martin Larsen.
"When we make an FDM part and mount it on a truck there's a lot of drilling, using fasteners and even mating parts together," he says. "We found that (because) the ULTEM has high tensile strength and is rigid, it's a good alternative for us to prototype with. Having the black material is a big bonus for us. We don't have to spend the time to finish the part, and we get the same material properties we look for in the (standard) ULTEM material."




Like standard ULTEM 9085, the black color material has a V-0 flammability rating. The material is heat resistant up to 320° F (160° C) and is inherently flame-retardant, offering full FST compliance including OSU heat release of less than 55/55, or 55 kw min/m2 for heat release and 55 kw/m2 for peak heat release.
The material's impact strength also makes it appealing to the aerospace industry, where high-strength, lightweight parts are extremely valuable.

In addition to the automotive and aerospace industries, Stratasys anticipates that black ULTEM 9085 will be useful for construction, agriculture and industrial equipment manufacturers.

Tan and Black ULTEM 9085 are now available at RedEye Australasia.

Call 1300 559 454 or email enquiries@redeyerpm.com.au for more information or competitive quote on your next project. 

NASA's New Rover uses FDM printed parts

NASA Trusts 3D Printing in Space

When you're developing highly customized space vehicles that must sustain human life, stock parts and traditional machining simply won't fly. So NASA engineers put around 70 3D printed FDM parts on their new rover. A new video shows the rover enduring desert tests with ABS and polycarbonate parts built using FDM technology and materials.


The rover, about the size of a Hummer uses about 70 3D-printed parts made from thermoplastic materials including ABS, PC/ABS and PC using FDM technology and materials created by Stratasys, parent company to RedEye On Demand Australasia. The printed parts include flame-retardant vents, pod doors and many custom fixtures. One ear-shaped exterior housing is deep and contorted, and would be nearly impossible to build without 3D printing.

Watch the video below to see how NASA harnessed the design flexibility and durable materials of Redeye On Demand's FDM technology.

FDM printed Magic Arms change a little girl's life

The moment Megan Lavelle saw the device, she knew it would change her daughter’s life. Lavelle is an energetic, unstoppable mom whose youngest daughter, Emma, was born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC). At a Philadelphia conference for AMC families, Lavelle learned about the Wilmington Robotic Exoskeleton (WREX), an assistive device made of hinged metal bars and resistance bands. It enables kids with underdeveloped arms to play, feed themselves and hug.
AMC is a non-progressive condition that causes stiff joints and very underdeveloped muscles. Emma was born with her legs folded up by her ears, her shoulders turned in. “She could only move her thumb,” says Lavelle. Doctors immediately performed surgery and casted Emma’s legs. The baby girl went home with parents determined to provide the best care.
Medical experts warned that AMC would prevent Emma from ever experiencing any sort of normalcy. She developed more slowly than an average child and spent much of her first two years in casts or undergoing surgery. Unable to see Emma play and interact with her environment in ways her older daughter had, Lavelle privately wondered whether Emma’s cognitive ability would be hampered as well.

Determined to Grow
But Emma progressed, slow and steady. As she grew and became able to move about with the help of a walker, it became clear that her mind was sharp and her determination on par with her mom’s. At two years old, she still couldn’t lift her arms, and the smart little girl wanted more. “She would get really frustrated when she couldn’t play with things like blocks,” Lavelle says. And so the mom would be Emma’s arms for her; playing with blocks, eating, brushing teeth.
Then came the WREX, demonstrated at the conference by an 8-year-old AMC patient lifting his arms and moving them in all directions. Lavelle met with the presenters, Tariq Rahman, Ph.D, head of pediatric engineering and research, and Whitney Sample, research designer, both from Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware. Rahman and Sample had worked for years to make the device progressively smaller, serving younger and younger patients. Attached to a wheelchair,
the WREX worked for kids as young as six. But Emma was two, small for her age, and free to walk.
In Sample’s tool-and-toy filled workshop, the team strapped Emma’s little arms into a small but awkward trial WREX attached to a stationary support. “She just started throwing her hands around and playing,” Sample says. Megan brought Emma candy and toys and watched her lift her arms toward her mouth for the first time.

Tiny Rewards
For Emma to wear the WREX outside the workshop, Rahman and Sample needed to scale it down in size and weight. The parts would be too small and detailed for the workshop’s CNC system to fabricate. But just perfect for printing using FDM technology. So a 3D printed prototype WREX was created in ABS plastic.
The difference in weight allowed Sample to attach the Emma-sized WREX to a little plastic vest.
The 3D-printed WREX turned out to be durable enough for everyday use. Emma wears it at home, at preschool, and during occupational therapy. And the design flexibility of 3D printing lets Sample continually improve upon the assistive device, working out ideas in CAD and building them the same day.
Fifteen kids now use custom 3D-printed WREX devices. For these littlest patients, Rahman explains, the benefits may extend beyond the obvious. Prolonged disuse of the arms can sometimes condition children to limited development, affecting cognitive and emotional growth. Doctors and therapists are watching Emma closely for the benefits of earlier arm use.
Emma quickly grew to love the abilities WREX unlocked in her. “When she started to express herself, we would go upstairs [to Sample’s workshop] and we would say, ‘Emma, you know we’re going to put the WREX on.’ And she called them her magic arms,” Lavelle says.
The little girl’s approval is a fitting reward for her determined mom and dedicated researchers. Sample says: “To be a part of that little special moment for someone else, can’t help but tug at your heart strings.” 

To watch the movie, click here

FDM moves mountains for Chipotle

Get a behind-the-scenes look at how FDM 3D printing helped create Chipotle’s popular Back to the Start animated short film.




Fast-forward one minute into the movie to hear Bob Thorne, special effects supervisor at Artem Ltd., explain how his team shaved almost a week off a tight production timeline by using the Dimension 3D Printers to create just one character.

There is no limit to the end use of 3D printed parts.

To see how RedEye Australasia can help you with your next project call 1300 559 454.

To see the full flim click on the link below:

Stratasys prints a Car!

Stratasys, the pioneers of Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) technology, are a proud Development Partner on the Urbee Hybrid - the first car to have it's entire body 3D Printed.

Read the article here.

Watch the CNN video here.

Congratulations Stratasys and RedEye On Demand.

Gearheads Boycott Scrap Yards and Swap Meets

It's a problem that's all too familiar for custom automobile enthusiasts - finding replacement parts. Featured in this month’s edition of Street Thunder magazine, Eric Anderson reveals how FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) gives you the power to print your own parts and put the fun back in restoring vintage and muscle cars.

Depending on size and complexity, most parts can be produced with FDM in less than 24hours. Because FDM uses real thermoplastics, you can create strong parts that hold up under high pressure and temperatures - perfect for automobile components. Ultimately, it means you can design a part today and have a real part shipped to you the next morning.

If you like restoring cars, but hate chasing down replacement parts - read the entire article. It'll give you the inside scoop on how you can use direct digital manufacturing services (sometimes called 3D printing services) to get parts fast.