Sculpteo, Forward AM by BASF Boost Production Capacities

Sculpteo and Forward AM announced a new catalog integrating a range of 3D printing material suitable for vehicles and new mobility. 

The range was developed by BASF in its two R&D centers in Germany and France and now available as 3D printed parts to BASF Forward AM customers through Sculpteo. 

Each of the three materials has properties that meet the constraints of the transportation industry: stronger and more resistant to heat, flexible, cost-effective, they enable the manufacturing of large parts.

Sculpteo, a BASF’s wholly-owned subsidiary which has doubled its production capacity in France, confirmed its strategic role by bringing proof of market through manufacturing for its extended portfolio of clients. This market validation accelerates the massive industrial deployment within BASF Forward AM’s customer base. 

Sculpteo and Forward AM announced the integration to their offer of new polymer materials and metal filaments which will be used mainly in transportation and industrial applications for series production. 

Three large families of materials are offered: Polyamide 6, a technical and rigid material which resists to high temperatures, also offered as flame-retardant version; TPU (ThermoPlastic Polyurethane), a strong and flexible material; and, for the first time on the market, Polypropylene, a low-cost material which is adapted to the industrial-scale manufacturing of large parts. 

Thus, thanks to Polyamide 6, it is possible to produce under-the-hood parts, ventilators and ventilation grids, headlights housing, or brackets. 

TPU enables the manufacturing of intake pipes, joints, bellows, or customized cockpits and dashboard elements. With Polypropylene, it is possible to produce reservoirs or connection parts. 

In addition to this new material offerings, Sculpteo already offers metal 3D printed parts thanks to Ultrafuse 316L as well as big parts printing with BASF Ultrafuse on BigRep machines, allowing to print parts up to 1mx 1m.

Developed with its subsidiary Sculpteo in BASF’s two R&D centers in Germany (Ludwigshafen) and in France (Frontonas), these new materials have already been made available by Sculpteo to its clients subcontracting 3D printing. 

They are integrated into BASF Forward AM’s catalog of 3D printing materials. Sculpteo, at the forefront of 3D printing, establishes the relevance of these materials in 3D printing by giving its clients access to the materials, with the objective of enabling massive industrial commercialization by BASF Forward AM. 

“By working with Sculpteo, Forward AM has an agile, market-oriented partner which allows the company to quickly validate materials and rapidly deploy them among its industrial clients integrating 3D printing,” said Dr. Dietmar Bender, managing director Forward AM.

Added Clément Moreau, CEO and co-founder of Sculpteo: “These technological materials give industries the freedom of envisioning and developing devices which will revolutionize mobility at a much higher pace.”

For around a decade, Sculpteo has operated an online platform with integrated production for the manufacturing of prototypes, individual objects, and serial production components with a range of different additive manufacturing technologies. 

Sculpteo recently invested €2 million in the acquisition of new 3D-printing machines for laser-sintering from the US, Germany, France, and China.