Hänssler, the German specialists in sealing solutions and plastics technology, has revealed how a recent project to design 300 new sealing products for a customer was enabled in partnership with additive manufacturing solutions company Kimya.
The seals needed to provide thermal protection between two elements inside a machine assembly, with the parts built of a material with anti-electrostatic properties.
For more than 30 years, the Hänssler Group has been developing, producing and distributing unique solutions made from high-quality plastics and elastomers for small and medium-sized production.
In addition to its turning and milling skills, the company has recently expanded its expertise in 3D printers and filament processing to meet the needs of industry.
For this project Hänssler used Kimya ABS-ESD 3D Printing filament, for the low volume production run, with the material meeting two essential criteria – the anti-electrostatic properties, and then ability to withstand temperatures above 90°C.
Once the printing process was launched for its partner, the large size of the parts and their complex geometry generated traces of delamination and flow defects, causing some imperfections.
Kimya’s parent company Armor then developed a bespoke printing profile, especially created on the basis of the standard profile, correcting the imperfections noticed at the start.
“Our partnership with Armor has been very rewarding,” said Hänssler marketing manager Adrian Heinrich. “The teams have demonstrated their reliability and skills, especially in such a challenging project.
“They were also very responsive in designing a print profile to achieve the expected level of quality and we were able to produce the parts on time. We are confident that this type of cooperation will continue in the future and that we will use their 3D filaments for other projects.”
Thanks to the successful manufacturing of finished parts, Armor is also supporting Hänssler in its search for a fit-for-purpose solution to print future parts in small runs.
“We are able to provide our customers with tailor-made support to meet their needs,” explains Pierre-Antoine Pluvinage, director business development at Kimya.
