Additive manufacturing
| Large Format AM |
Large Format - High Temperature Printing (Robotic System) with localised heating for High Temperature Polymers
- Utilising a Kuka robotic arm, pulsar extruder and localised heating system from LEAM, the system is fully PAEK capable.
- This system has a build chamber capability of approximately 1m cubed.
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| Laser sintering |
EOS P 800
- The EOS P 800 is the first Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) System which can process high temperature thermoplastics.
- This system is a powder bed process, scanning each layer using a CO2 Laser. It has a build volume of 700 x 380 x 580mm (x, y, z).
- Capable of processing polymers up to 380°C
- Materials: EOS HP3 PEK - Unreinforced PolyEtherKetone (PEK), semi crystalline high performance thermoplastic material.
- Development Materials: PEEK, PEKK, Graphene-PEEK, CNT-PEEK.
- Applications: High strength and stiffness as well as good ductility at higher temperatures. Chemically resistant to aggressive environments, suitable for sterilization for medical and food contact applications.
- CALM is proud to be the first owners of an ALM system like this within the UK.
EOS P 810
- The EOS P 810 is the second generation of Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) Systems which can process high temperature thermoplastics.
- This system is a powder bed process, scanning each layer using a CO2 Laser. It has a build volume of 700 x 380 580mm (x, y, z).
- Capable of processing polymers up to 300°C
- Materials: EOS HT23 PEKK - Carbon Fibre reinforced PolyEtherKetoneKetone (CF-PEKK), semi crystalline high performance thermoplastic composite material.
- Applications: Extreme high strength and stiffness at high temperature. Chemically resistant to aggressive environments, suitable for aerospace and automotive applications
- CALM is the only independent research centre with both the P 800 and P 810 systems.
EOS P 100 Formiga
- The EOS P 100 was first released in 2008 with the focus of manufacturing in mind. The P100 is designed for easy of material change, part manufacture and repeatability.
- This system is a powder bed process, scanning each layer using a CO2 Laser. It has a build volume of 200 x 250 x 330mm (x, y, z).
- Capable of processing polymers up to 200°C
- Materials: High performance thermoplastic; either polyamide 11 or 12, reinforced or unreinforced.
- Applications: Ideally used to manufacture parts for functional testing, design communication and tooling applications. Can withstand high mechanical and thermal loads.
Sharebot SnowWhite
- The Sharebot SnowWhite is a small scale Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) System which can process polymers below 200°C
- This System is a powder bed process, scanning each layer using a CO2 Laser. It has a build volume of 100 x 100 x 100mm (x, y, z)
- Capable of processing polymers up to 200°C
- Materials: Polyamide 12, 11. Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU)
- Applications: Material development, small scale component manufacturing or prototyping
EOS M 100
- Metal printing - options include EOS CobaltChrome, StainlessSteel 316L and Titanium Ti64
- Build platform of 100mm in diameter
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| Material extrusion |
Minifactory Ultra
- This FDM system produces high quality parts utiling a heated build chamber (up to 250°C)
- Heated filament chamber for drying filament and immediate printing
- Materials: A range of thermoplastics from PLA, ABS to high temperature polymers such as PEEK and PEKK. T
- Applications: Ideally used to manufacture parts for functional testing, design communication and tooling applications.
Intamsys Funmat Pro 410
- Heated build chamber (up to 90°C) and heated build plate (up to 160°C)
- Build volume 305x305x406mm
- Capable of processing polymers up to 500°C, including PEEK
3DGence Industry F340 x 3
- Heated build chamber (up to 85°C)
- Build volume 260x300x340mm (x, y, z).
- Capable of processing polymers up to 500°C, including PEEK
Stratasys Dimension 768
- This FDM system deposits material through an extrusion head layer by layer following a deposition path.
- It has a build volume of 203 x 203 x 305mm (x, y, z).
- Materials: Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)
- Applications: Ideally used to manufacture parts for functional testing, design communication, tooling and final part applications. It also has FDA certified one of its materials for medical devices.
Markforged Mark 2
- This FDM system is capable of printing Continuous Fibre Reinforced components.
- It has a build volume of 320 x 132 x 154mm (x, y, z).
- Materials: Markforged Onyx (micro carbon fibre filled nylon), Nylon, Carbon Fibre, Glass Fibre and Kevlar Fibre.
- Applications: True continous fibre reinforced polymer composite components where high stiffness is required, such as Automotive components.
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| Powder analysis |
Freeman FT4 Powder Rheometer
- The FT4 Powder Rheometer is used to characterise the rheology or flow properties of powders.
- It is able to measure the bulk properties such as density, compressibility and permeability as well as the powder's resistance to flow, whilst also analysing shear strength and quantifying how a powder shears with respect to the surfaces of process equipment.
Granutools Granudrum
- The Grandrum instrument is an automated powder flowability measurement technique predicated on the rotating drum principle.
- The flowability of a powder is measured as a function of the shearing rates and rheological properties like shear thinning or shear thickening can be evaluated.
Granutools Granucharge
- The Granucharge instrument is able to measure the triboelectric charges created during powder flow.
Microtrac Sync
- The Sync Analyser is able to measure particle size and shape (morphology) of dry powders.
- Particle size and shape analysis from 0.01 to 4000 microns using laser diffraction (ISO 13320:2020) and dynamic image analysis (ISO 13322-2).
- Excellent sub-micron detection using blue laser technology. Ability to resolve narrow and multi-modal distributions in the sub-micron range.
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Materials processing and manufacturing
| Injection moulding |
Battenfeld HM40/130 - Thermoplastics
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| Compression moulding / hot press |
Lab Tech LP-S-50 hydraulic press
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| Compounding / extrusion |
Chareon Tut twin screw extruder with side feed
Rondol single screw extruders
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| Plasma treatment |
Plasma treatment technology for pre/post treatment of materials
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| Ovens / furnaces / mixers |
Vacuum Oven: Binder - room temperature to 250°C
High temperature oven with purge/protective gas: Carbolite, room temperature to 450°C
Box furnace: Carbolite up to 1100°C
Shear mixer
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Materials analysis
| Thermal analysis |
Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)
Flash DSC
Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)
Dynamic Mechanical Analyis (DMA)
TA TMA 450
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| Spectroscopy |
Bruker:
- Alpha FTIR system with Platinum ATR setup
- Sentinel Raman
- Matrix NIR
Perkin Elmer:
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| Microscopy |
Zeiss - Axioplan2 Optical Microscope
Standard stereo microscope (60x) with external fibre optic light source
Digital camera imagery system with application software
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| Rheology |
TA Instruments:
- Discovery Hybrid Rheometer HR-1, with Peltier and parallel plate attachments
- AR2000 Rotational Rheometer
Rosand:
Melt Flow Index (MFI) - 2 options:
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| Particle analysis |
Powder Rheometer: Freeman Technology FT4
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| Surface analysis |
Taylor Hobson: Talyscan 150
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| Other equipment |
Oxygen Indexer
Brabender Aquatrac polymer moisture content measurement
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Mechanical testing
| Universal materials testing |
- Lloyd LR300k Universal Materials Testing Machine- 300 kN maximum load
- Lloyd EZ20 Universal Materials Testing Machine - 20 kN maximum load
- Lloyd Laserscan 200 Extensometer
- Lloyd EX 800 ExtensometerThermal Chamber (-70°C to 300°C)
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| Impact testing |
- Instron CEAST 9350 drop tower
- CEAST resil pendulum impact tester
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Imaging suite
The Imaging Suite, located in The College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences at the University of ·¬ÇÑÊÓÆµ offers SEM, TEM, AFM, CT and XRD facilities for experimental applications at micro and nano scale. See the imaging suite webpages for more information.