Moulding... without a mould

The new frontier of Arburg in the plastics processing is called freeformer. The goal of the German manufacturer was to develop a new system for the efficient and mould-less production of limited series of single components. This idea led to an all-new machine and process, which made their world debut at the K 2013 fair in Düsseldorf. The technology enables individual, 3D, ready-to-use parts to be made starting directly from CAD 3D data: in practice, the object is formed by layers of materials delivered in minute drops.
Looking more closely at the machine, the design of the freeformer combines practical experience and technical details like, for example, the size of the work range, operating safety and the quality of parts. The machine can operate anywhere, as the name synonymous with limitless freedom indicates, and looks more like a 3D printer or stereolithographic machine.
As far as the process is concerned, the principles of manufacturing plastic articles have been to a large extent revolutionized. As opposed to conventional laminating techniques, in the freeforming method by Arburg (AKF), the granulate is melted using a standard injection moulding process. CAD 3D data is at the heart of the process. They are read by the machine and after set-up everything is handled automatically.
The freeformer makes the piece without supporting structures, instead laminating very small drops of material on a support moving along three or five axes below the dispenser unit, which remains fixed over the latter. The piezoelectric technology is applied for nozzle control, as a result creating the desired component, layer after layer, ensuring a precise and totally dust-free process.