COP Chimie takes on orthopedic sector with silicone 3D printing »

COP Chimie is a French SME based mostly within the Vercors area which has been creating supplies for the orthopedic tools trade for over 30 years. The corporate’s Analysis and Improvement laboratory has succeeded in creating a spread of 3D printable silicone elastomers licensed for pores and skin contact and produced on its synthesis unit: COPSIL 3D.

This progressive resolution with an ultra-fast manufacturing course of additionally permits for a extra nice contact on the pores and skin by means of the formulation of a spread of silicone elastomers. The formulation of a versatile and printable pores and skin contact materials to make personalized orthosis and exterior prosthesis by 3D printing can enormously enhance the lives of many disabled individuals who put on orthopedic units each day. Up to now, the vary extends from 10 to 40 Shore A hardness and continues to develop.

Advantages of 3D printable silicone

Silicones, typically within the type of oils or translucent elastomers that may be simply coloured, are appreciated for his or her resistance to temperature, their flexibility, their hydrophobic and textured character. Silicones additionally guarantee chemical stability, which makes them appropriate for the physiological surroundings specifically. Thus, silicones are used within the composition of quite a few merchandise and objects with a variety of makes use of: hygiene and cleansing merchandise, seals, industrial or meals molds, coatings and paints, lubricants and greases, prostheses, toys, and so on.

Within the medical subject, for instance, additive silicone manufacturing permits custom-made units to be produced with out the necessity for guide molding or casting, thus lowering manufacturing time and prices. It additionally permits the inclusion of voids and the variation of fill charges of buildings to lighten them or modify their properties corresponding to :

• scale back hardness
• improve resilience,
• permit for higher depreciation,
• add anisotropy to the printed object,
• improve mechanical properties,
• receive variable mesh diameters,
• improve the alternate surfaces.

COPSIL 3D, 3D printable silicone for pores and skin contact

Supported by 4 years of doctoral work, COP Chimie has developed a silicone with particular rheological habits (/consistency) permitting layer-by-layer deposition of liquid silicone with out collapsing. The hardness and reactivity of the COPSIL 3D elastomers could be tailored to the kind of construction to be constructed. The platinum-catalyzed polymerization happens at room temperature as soon as the 2 elements are blended within the static mixer of the printhead. It may be accelerated by power enter (warmth). Printed COPSIL 3D polymers have the identical mechanical properties as forged silicone. They don’t shrink, haven’t any odor and are suitable with pores and skin contact purposes (ISO 10993-5 certification). They are perfect for the manufacture of versatile elements with complicated designs or small sequence, for instance for prototyping.

To be able to develop this course of as broadly as potential, COP Chimie is partnering with Lynxter, a French machine producer, to enlarge its vary of printable silicones and in addition with F3DF, a specialist in skilled 3D coaching, to coach customers in liquid silicones for 3D printing.