Parts made with innovative gel and UV cure method require little support, if any.
Massivit 3D, an Israel-based 3D printing company, drew crowds at the recent AMUG 2021 conference thanks to a large model of the Hulk—and its hulking 3D printer.
“It’s the size [of the printer] that attracts the attention,” said Ido Eylon, Massivit 3D’s VP of Marketing and Sales, of the company’s Massivit 5000 making its public debut. “But it’s our unique print process that keeps them interested.”
Massivit 3D sees as its advantage what have been barriers to large-scale adoption of 3D printing, chiefly production speed and production size. The company’s printheads dispense a fast-curing gel at speeds 30 times faster and in a tenth of the time of other technologies, according to presenter Jeffery Freeman, who added some degree of truth to the term “rapid prototyping.” A 1-meter diameter ring and a bead of 1-milimeter diameter can grow at a speed of 14 inches per hour along the Z-axis. The machines, as previously noted, are huge. The Massivit 5000 on display—the size of walk-in closet—can create parts up to 70 inches tall.
Parts are made with a proprietary material—a gel that is hardened by UV lights that circle the extruding head. Finished parts are a little tacky but are dry enough and strong enough to be removed from the build volume and handled immediately, which is more than you can say for parts made with SLA technology, which are grown in liquid filled vats, or FDM technology, where the parts take time to cool. After a day, Massivit 3D parts are no longer tacky.
Massivit 3D has 50 patents, including materials and its integrated software, according to a company press release.
A Lack of Support
The 3D printing industry delivers revolutions on a daily basis and Massivit 3D’s Gel Dispensing Printing (GDP) system appears to be another one. With dual printheads mounted on a gantry, its gel is deposited and then “immediately” hardened by a ring of UV lights, which allows the printhead to race along its path and apply the next layer as soon as the path is completed. Not only does GDP let the next layer be deposited sooner but, most importantly, the quick hardening material is also strong enough to support overhangs—eliminating the need for supports, the bane of the 3D printing process. The most common 3D printing technologies (including SLA and FDM) require support for overhangs over a certain angle, making a multitude of thin columns, all of which must be removed and thrown away. The columns may have indents that let you snap them off, but remnants remain that require considerable post-processing to remove. The Massivit system eliminates all the waste and labor required by supports.
“I bill $60 an hour for a model maker and he has to sand a part for four to five hours … you can do the math,” complained Paul DeWys, who runs a 3D printing service and attended AMUG.
For parts that might still need supports, Massivit 3D’s software adds “microsupports” that thicken a hollow part as needed—and only where needed. “If the part is a mold, you can flip the reinforcing to the outside,” added Eylon.
Massivit 3D’s microsupports resemble raised scars and would be just as unsightly, except that they can be placed on the inside of a hollow part where they would not bother anyone.
Size Matters
While the Hulk may have been the most recognizable object printed, it was an entire car hood that Massivit 3D was most proud of. The entire part was made in one piece, avoiding the weakness and surface discontinuities that occur when parts made in smaller build chambers are bonded together.
As previously mentioned, large parts are Massivit 3D’s forte. In addition to car hoods, the company promotes the use of its printers for body panels, single piece car seats, advertising displays, signs, props and architectural details, and more.
The Massivit 5000
The Massivit 5000 uses the company’s latest printing material, Dimengel 110, which promises high- definition printing with greater fidelity to CAD designs. Two modes of operation optimize by varying layer thickness and speed. Equipped with two printheads and supply tanks, the Massivit 5000 can lay down two different materials simultaneously.
Massivit 3D claims to have done away with another fallibility of layered builds—the weakness in the Z-axis as one layer fails to sufficiently bond with the previous one. The gel used by Massivit 3D is a natural adhesive and bonds to the previous (already hardened) layer, according to Eylon.
The company does not make the price of the Massivit 5000 public, but it is safe to say it will cost “hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Massivit 3D’s claim to fame is its unique material (gel) that rapidly hardens. The gels are proprietary, but the company is open to licensing the material to plastic manufacturers should demand exceed what the company can produce.
The material is available in 3 formulations, Dimengel 90, 100 and 110. The higher the number, the finer the detail of the part, and the lighter the color, the more expensive the gel. Mechanical properties are similar to SLA material, according to company literature.
Massivit 3D machines can also be used for mold making, with their large build capacity reducing the traditional 19-step process from a CAD model to a mold with only 4 steps.
About Massivit 3D
Massivit 3D was founded by industry pioneer Gershon Miller, best known as the cofounder of Objet, which was acquired by Stratasys. Miller currently functions as the company’s chief innovation officer.
The company debuted its latest machine, the Massivit 5000, at AMUG 2021 in Orlando as Platinum Sponsor following a successful IPO on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) in Israel that raised $52 million.
Massivit machines operate in 40 countries, according to the company’s press release.
