Lithoz is set to launch the CeraFab System S320, its industrial ceramic 3D printer featuring a build platform five times larger than its previous models.
Built on the same technology as its proven CeraFab System S65, the new 3D printer is focused on high-capacity printing of mid-sized parts, including filters, casting cores and semiconductor components.
The largest of Lithoz’s ceramic 3D printers, the S320 features a 245 x 130 x 320 mm build platform capable of 60 µm resolution using a 4K projection system, enabling up to 150 layers per hour print speed.
Parts printed on the S320 during Beta testing have included the individual segments of a 380mm diameter alumina gas distribution ring from Alumina Systems as used in the semiconductor manufacturing industry.
Lithoz says that the ring performs more effectively than those produced via conventional methods thanks to the design freedom of 3D printing, which enables an exceptionally lightweight and thin-walled structure.
Founded in Vienna, Austria in 2011, Lithoz now offers a family of 7 ceramic 3D printers, capable of producing parts from materials including Alumina, Zirconia, Silicon Nitride, Aluminium Nitride and new materials like High-Dielectric Ceramics and Piezoceramics.
With the latter, Lithoz is actively developing lead-free alternatives such as barium titanate or potassium sodium niobate (KNN). Novel piezoelectric designs, only achievable using 3D printing technology, allow for an increase of power and/or enable miniaturisation.
In May, Lithoz became a member of the UK’s Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), installing a Lithoz CeraFab System S65 industrial 3D printer and a variety of high-performance ceramics for its engineers and partners to access.
