Product category:
Fast prototyping equipment, pattern-making and services
News Release from: EOS Electro Optical Systems (UK) | Subject: Laser-sintered plastics - rapid manufacturing
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 27 July 2007
Laser-sintered plastics slash product
lead times
Laser-sintering has enabled an aircraft parts manufacturer to drastically cut production lead times and eliminate tooling costs, and now uses it as standard for making custom polymer flight hardware.
Laser-sintered plastics slash production lead times Laser-sintering has enabled an aircraft parts manufacturer to drastically cut production lead times and eliminate tooling costs, and now uses it as standard for making custom polymer flight hardware A manufacturer of luxury passenger aircraft is routinely accepting laser sintered plastics production parts from Paramount PDS From CAD data, Paramount laser sinters aircraft parts from flame retardant polyamide plastics powder, PA 2210 FR, developed by the German company, EOS
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 29 Jan 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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Jim Williams, president of Paramount, said: "Prior to producing PA 2210 FR parts, we had our own independent tests carried out under FAR 25.853 specifications, and others, to confirm the material's flame retardancy properties.
Not only did it pass, but it outperformed five other materials that were tested at the same time." The material has passed independent testing for aircraft burn, smoke and toxicity, as well as UL 94 V-0 flammability.
* Rapid manufacturing - consequently, Paramount proceeded with 'rapid-manufacturing' of more than a dozen flight hardware components for the aircraft manufacturer.
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Williams continued, "Laser-sintering with PA 2210 FR has enabled the aircraft manufacturer to slash production lead times and has eliminated tooling costs.
Our customer has now adopted laser-sintering as standard for production of custom polymer flight hardware." Note that Paramount is taking full advantage of laser sintering's product design freedom.
As Williams said, "Each of the aircraft components was specifically designed and engineered for rapid manufacturing.
This resulted in complex configurations, which could not have been moulded or machined, that optimally addressed the form and functional needs of the applications".
According to Jim Fendrick, vice president of EOS North America, "Paramount is the first company in the US to offer PA 2210 FR laser-sintered components.
"The contract supplier had a number of customers that needed flame retardant materials.
When it learned of the new material, it agreed to become a 'beta test site'.
Throughout the past eight months, Paramount has reported that it is very pleased with the processing of PA 2210 FR's and the properties of the resulting parts".
Enthused Williams, "From the very first run, we have been building great parts.
There have been no problems whatsoever.
In fact, there is no difference between processing parts with PA 2210 FR and making them with EOS's other polyamides." He added that there are no changes to visual or dimensional part quality.
He tested the material in Paramount's in-house metrology lab and confirmed that there is negligible loss of material strength compared to unfilled polyamide.
* Availability - EOS has commercially released PA 2210 FR, which is available worldwide.
It is available in the UK through subsidiary, EOS, Warwick, for use with the company's range of laser-sintering machines.
Testing by certified and accredited laboratories confirms that the polyamide complies with flammability and smoke generation regulations - FAR 25.853; ABD 0031/AITM 2.0002, 2.0007; and BSS 7230/7238: and smoke toxicity - ABD 0031/AITM 3.0005; BSS 7239.
PA 2210 FR has a UL 94 V-0 flammability rating and is free from halogens.
* About Paramount PDS - founded in 1966, Paramount (Langhorne, Pennsylvania, USA) initially specialised in model making and pattern making for a wide variety of consumer and industrial products.
Over the years, it has expanded its scope to apply advanced technology in all aspects of product development.
Today, Paramount offers a comprehensive array of services.
In addition to prototyping and tooling, it provides engineered solutions for direct digital rapid manufacturing of precision parts from 3D CAD digital input, utilising advanced laser-sintering technology.
Paramount's services also include product design and engineering injection moulding, full-scale manufacturing from domestic and offshore facilities, as well as assembly and packaging
* About EOS - EOS was founded in 1989 and is the world leading manufacturer of laser-sintering systems.
Laser-sintering is the key technology for e-Manufacturing, the fast, flexible and cost-effective production of products, patterns or tools.
The technology manufactures parts for every phase of the product life cycle, directly from electronic data.
Laser-sintering accelerates product development and optimises production processes.
EOS completed its last business year on September 30th 2006 with revenues in laser-sintering of 52.3 million Euro, thus continuing its ongoing growth.
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