The Hamburg-based German Lehvoss Group will exhibit at Formnext 2019 (hall 11.1, stand B48), which will take place from 19 – 22 November 2019 in Frankfurt a. M., Germany. The company announced that it will highlight Luvosint TPU for tailor-made orthopaedic insoles as well as its Luvocom 3F series of 3D printing filaments.
An exclusive Luvosint TPU type – a laser-sintering powder based on TPU – has been specially developed for the requirements of individually tailored insoles. Developer and distributor of this orthopaedic product is the American firm Aetrex. Alongside the familiar high level of mechanical properties, this type is distinguished by a special Pantone colour on the powder and enhanced productivity in the SLS machines produced by the company Eos that have been adapted for the purpose.
According to Lehvoss, the successful development is based on collaboration between the project partners Aetrex, Eos North America and the Lehvoss Group and demonstrates once again that 3D printing is suitable for series-production applications. This refers not only to the technical but also the business aspects. Only through 3D printing is it possible to manufacture this sophisticated product, said Lehvoss. Customers receive the insoles which are tailor-made to their needs within two weeks of having their foot profile scanned.
Furthermore, with Luvocom 3F filament the group is presenting its own series of 3D printing filaments at the Formnext 2019. The four products being offered are based on the polymers PAHT and PET, and two of them are carbon fibre-reinforced variants. The materials optimised for the FFF printing process offer simple printability – even in the unheated build space – as well as non-warping properties and high mechanical strengths – in the Z direction, too – and thus enable optimum component qualities to be achieved, said the company.
The LEHVOSS Group and Ultimaker have commissioned TÜV Süd to certify the use of Luvocom 3F filaments on Ultimaker printers. This certification covers the material properties and the printing process with the S5 Pro Bundle print system. A commitment such as this to a reproducible process and an established quality assurance system is the first step by filament and machine producers towards industrialisation and scalability, said Lehvoss. Overall, there are already more than 30 different Luvocom 3F materials for extrusion-based 3D printing procedures, of which many can be supplied as filaments via established manufacturers and are employed in a large number of technical applications.