Stratasys is now shipping its new FDM 900mc direct digital manufacturing machine.
The company says it has taken a record number of orders for its large-format machines. Patrick Robb, FDM product manager, states: "We presold 17 units – much more than expected. We underestimated early demand for a system used in DDM applications."
Historically, Stratasys additive fabrication machines were used strictly for rapid prototyping, but the 900mc was developed specifically for use in direct digital manufacturing (DDM) applications. The machine is designed to serve this growing trend in low-volume manufacturing, especially in the automotive, aerospace, consumer product, and heavy industry markets. All 17 units will be used in direct digital manufacturing applications for either end-use parts or fabrication and assembly tools, and some of them will also be used in high-end functional prototyping applications.
Robb adds: "The FDM 900mc programme is exceeding Stratasys' expectations in several ways: in sales, in prospect interest and in machine performance." The 900mc development programme was driven to produce high standards of accuracy and repeatability. With a confidence factor of greater than 99 per cent, the 900mc has an accuracy rating of +/-0.127mm or +/-0.0015mm per mm, whichever is greater (though the achievable accuracy depends on the part geometry). Robb says: "This rivals injection moulding for accuracy and repeatability. For low-volume production, it is a more cost-effective technique than traditional manufacturing."
The Stratasys quality department completed an FDM 900mc accuracy study using three FDM 900mc machines, and building 144 standard test parts with 27 measurements per part - giving a total of 3888 measured dimensions. Results revealed that dimensions were 99.9 per cent in specification; in other words, only one in one thousand measurements did not fall within the specification.
Product marketing manager Fred Fischer states: "The FDM 900mc sets a new benchmark for Stratasys high-end system performance in throughput, accuracy, repeatability and part quality. This machine's precision lets it rival any competing rapid technology process as well as traditional processes for low-volume manufacturing and prototyping."
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