In 2023 the twentieth anniversary of Prosilas, member of the Prototal Group, will be celebrated. In these twenty years they have gained a deep experience in the field of additive manufacturing. For decades Prosilas has been supporting companies both in the prototyping and rapid production phases, mainly operating with SLS technologies, assisted by different systems and techniques of design and finishing.
Luca Ferroni, Technical Director at Prosilas, has been with the company for twenty years and he truly is the backbone of the company. During his time at Prosilas, he has been dealing with feasibility studies, technical consultancy and management of estimates and, finally, with the preparation of jobs. Let’s hear what he has to say about the development of Prosilas as a Production Partner, as well as the new material ALM 603 CF.
ALM 603 CF – Polyamide & Carbon Fiber: lightness and solidity to win the challenge of high performance productions
At the beginning we based our productions by processing materials such as PA12 (pure polyamide) and glass and aluminum fillers with standard blend, and then we refined our proposal through the creation special blends.
About ten years ago we had the intuition to use PA12 polyamide loaded with carbon fiber, a highly robust and resistant solution, which opens unthinkable opportunities to the most complex sectors, such as racing and motorsport, where the demand for mechanical performance is high and, here it is appropriate to say it, in rapid rush. The proposal of carbon filled polyamide therefore translates into a functional and not only aesthetic solution, competitive and capable of satisfying the need for high-performance product fields.
The carbon-filled PA12 material had a standard blend, which we however began to work with customized procedures to improve its resistance in the Z axis. The experience gained through the years allowed Prosilas to make changes to the process making this material even more performing and decisive in many areas.
With the introduction of the new carbon filled material for rapid production (or prototyping in some cases) ALM 603 CF (Carbon Fiber), we can say that we have made a further leap in quality by evolving performance and obtaining solutions with even higher performances for those companies that chooses to rely on the support of our technical laboratories. The material processed in the Prosilas hub has a greater resistance on the Z axis, more robust, lighter and with a better surface quality, characteristics that guarantee the perfect combination of aesthetics and functionality.
This allows us to create extremely performing parts in terms of mechanics but at the same time light and thin, with high rigidity.
– Luca Ferroni, Technical Director at Prosilas
”I can personally say that the ALM 603 CF is one of the best examples of industrial 3D printing material ever tested until now, for automotive, racing applications and more generally in motorsport and complex markets. In fact, we are able to obtain ultra-light components, with excellent mechanical performance and with a truly remarkable surface finish, also useful in advanced testing operations such as the tests that, in the racing world for example, are carried out inside the wind tunnels.”
The printing tests for the validation of the material were carried out on our EOS P770 3D printer, thus making us able to offer our customers even large monolithic parts, while maintaining all the quality of a solid and light polymer.
We are currently the only service provider in Europe to process ALM 603 CF and we can say we are proud of it: a winning choice that allows us to face all the challenges that the industrial market of aesthetic and ultra-light mechanics offers.
Additive Manufacturing & Prosilas
Some, referring to additive manufacturing, speak of the third industrial revolution. Even if it sounds strong, we can certainly say that AM represents a truly revolutionary support in the world of the manufacturing industry, essentially for two key factors: the speed of execution and the reduced wastes of realization.
These characteristics, which lead to greater sustainability of both the process and the industrial product, also from an LCA analysis point of view: using AM technologies we can in fact manage an on-demand production and a virtual warehouse, as well as the printing process, additive and non-subtractive, it has less waste than traditional manufacturing. In this dynamic panorama, Prosilas stands out for the quality of products and materials, speed and precision in execution, dynamism and completeness of the offer.
