Anisoprint Case Studies
Choose a case study below to learn more about the part material properties, print times and cost to print.
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Wall Bracket
REINFORCEMENT SCHEME | 2 COMPOSITE OUTER PERIMETERS, 40% COMPOSITE ISOGRID INFILL |
|---|---|
PLASTIC | PETG |
FIBER | COMPOSITE CARBON FIBER (CCF) |
WEIGHT | 25 G |
PRINT TIME | 6 HOURS |
MATERIALS COST, PER CM³ | ~$0.68 AUD |
MATERIALS COST, TOTAL | ~$14.00 AUD |
Level for Para-Athlete Driver
Para-athlete diver, Dimitry Pavlenko uses Anisoprint parts for an estimated 10x longer lifespan and superior strength.
Dmitry needed a lever to control air inflation and release for maintaining buoyancy and manoeuvrability. Usually, he used a spoon from steel as a lever. It was broken after the 10th dive.
He tried 3D printing and a new lever in ABS was printed, however, became defective also after the 10th dive and unusable.
To increase the lifespan of the part, a new part was designed and printed on an Anisoprint Composer 3D printer from PETG and reinforced with Composite Carbon Fiber.
Using the Anisoprinted lever, Dimitry made a 40m deep, unassisted dive in open sea and set a new world record.
REINFORCEMENT SCHEME | 3 COMPOSITE OUTER PERIMETERS, 3 COMPOSITE INNER PERIMETERS |
|---|---|
PLASTIC | PETG |
FIBER | COMPOSITE CARBON FIBER (CCF) |
WEIGHT | 32 G |
PRINT TIME | 3.5 HOURS |
MATERIALS COST, PER CM³ | ~$0.93 AUD |
MATERIALS COST, TOTAL | ~$21.00 AUD |
Electric Wheelchair Fixture
A fixture for an electric wheelchair was anisoprinted in-house 7x lighter, 12x faster and 3x cheaper than the original outsourced part from steel.
Supreme Motors produces UNA Wheel — an electric wheelchair for long distances. The original fixture was made from steel and was too expensive to manufacture it in small batches, with every unit costing over AUD$155.
The turned to 3D printing and found a high-performance plastic, Ultem. The part was 5x lighter, cheaper to make and the most importantly, the company could manufacture the fixtures in-house instead of outsourcing it and spending resources, however, the part 3D printed from Ultem failed stress tests and was not durable enough for application.
Supreme Motors looked for a stronger 3D printing solution and came across anisoprinting. The fixture was made from PETG plastic reinforced with Composite Carbon Fiber (CCF) was printed on an Anisoprint Composer continuous fiber 3D printer.
Steel | Anisoprint (PETG + CONTINUOUS CARBON FIBRE) | |
|---|---|---|
Weight | 300g | 41g |
Production time | 48 hours | 4 hours |
Production stages | 3 | 1 |
Price | AUD$150 | AUD$40 |
Under stress testing, the anisoprint withstood a dynamic load of 117kg, although being 7x lighter and 3x cheaper to produce than the traditional steel part. In addition to being able to print more durable parts, Supreme Motors can produce a part in 4 hours instead of 48 hours.
REINFORCEMENT SCHEME | 3 COMPOSITE OUTER PERIMETERS, 3 COMPOSITE INNER PERIMETERS |
|---|---|
PLASTIC | PETG |
FIBER | COMPOSITE CARBON FIBER (CCF) |
WEIGHT | 41 G |
PRINT TIME | 4 HOURS |
MATERIALS COST, PER CM³ | ~$1.27 AUD |
MATERIALS COST, TOTAL | ~$40.00 AUD |
Self-Sensing Composite for Monitoring Critical Sructures
Brightlands Materials Center, a research center based in Netherlands, has developed 3D printed composite parts with self-sensing functionality using Anisoprint. Self-sensing provides the opportunity to monitor critical structures in aerospace, construction and healthcare industries.
What is Self-Sensing?
Self-sensing is the ability of a material to sense its own condition, whereby the material itself, is used as a sensor. Polymer-matrix composites, containing continuous carbon fiber, are known materials that have self-sensing capabilities based on measurable changes in electrical resistance of the continuous fibers. The practical importance of such products is in structural health monitoring in airplanes or critical parts in construction such as bridges.
Usually, self-sensing material is made with traditional composite manufacturing techniques that are complex and require several-stages and processes made with special equipment.
Brightlands Materials Center is combining the self-sensing of continuous fiber with the fabrication of composites by anisoprinting to make self-sensing more effective.
In their research, the results were discovered by monitoring deformation in a simple bending beam in a scale model of a pedestrian composite bridge.
For sensing it’s crucial to have full freedom that a carbon fiber layout gives because it has to stick out of the part to be able to make connections to the monitoring electronic hardware.
The Anisoprint open system gives the possibility of precise positioning and orientation of carbon fibers. The carbon fibers are placed at chosen locations inside the product that form an integral part of the structure. This means that the carbon fiber “sensors” are located where they are needed, and multiple fibers can form a range of sensors throughout the part.
“As a materials research centre working on continuous fiber additive manufacturing we need flexibility with respect to the materials and fiber layouts that we can use on a 3D printer.
The Anisoprint Composers offer that flexibility enabling us to support our industrial customers to develop innovative fiber reinforced thermoplastic applications”.
– Richard Janssen, Business Developer of Brightlands Materials Center.
REINFORCEMENT SCHEME | 2 COMPOSITE OUTER PERIMETERS |
|---|---|
PLASTIC | PETG |
FIBER | COMPOSITE CARBON FIBER (CCF) |
PRINT TIME | 35 HOURS |
MATERIALS COST, PER CM³ | ~$1.10 AUD |
MATERIALS COST, TOTAL | ~$158.00 AUD |
Anisoprint Filament Winding Machine Roller
REINFORCEMENT SCHEME | 3 COMPOSITE OUTER PERIMETERS, 3 COMPOSITE INNER PERIMETERS |
|---|---|
PLASTIC | PETG |
FIBER | COMPOSITE CARBON FIBER (CCF) |
WEIGHT | 41 G |
PRINT TIME | 4 HOURS |
MATERIALS COST, PER CM³ | ~$1.27 AUD |
MATERIALS COST, TOTAL | ~$40.00 AUD |
Continuous Carbon Fibre Reinforced Soft Jaws
Unique shapes with a 35% weight reduction and 40% lower manufacturing costs.
Operation on a lathe requires special attention to tooling. In cases when parts have complex shapes, thin walls, or are made of soft alloys, standard equipment can damage the surface and leave cracks on it.
Conventional tooling can crumple thin-walled parts because the clamping force is difficult to adjust. Parts such as asymmetrical profiles are very hard to clamp with standard jaws or cams: you either have to spoil and sharpen the cams or waste time and insert a row of liners, then centre the part in the machine.
To solve these problems, WEBER LABS turned to anisoprinting.
Weber Labs handles the full cycle of technological part production from model, development, calculations to manufacturing. Quite often these parts are small-scale and non-standard.
The soft-jaws produced need to have a specific purpose, in this case, turning a set of stator plates for an electric motor.
Weber Labs highlighted several advantages of Anisoprinted Tooling after testing:
- Plastics jaws are more flexible than metal ones and when clamped, hold a workpiece more tightly, which helps control the clamping force more precisely and process parts that require careful handling.
- On older machines, the placement of where the cams fit into wears out, and during operation, the tools leave noticeable traces on apart due to backlash and requires several finishing passes to clean up.
- Due to its plasticity, soft jaws made from plastic provide better contact, not only minimises the number of finishing passes but also reduces vibration.
CNC METAL | ANISOPRINTING | |
|---|---|---|
Weight | 600g | 251g |
Price | AUD$175.00 | AUD$70.00 |
The composite jaws were printed on the Anisoprint Composer 3D printer from Smooth PA plastic reinforced with continuous fibers. Anisoprinted jaws are nearly three times as light as metal ones: 251g vs 600g.
The part is 40% cheaper and 35% lighter, than the metal equivalent. Such cams are less durable and cannot be used for holding large parts, however, this is non-standard tooling. Plastic jaws without reinforcement need to be changed after a few cycles of work, while reinforced 3D printed parts showed durability in more than 15 operation cycles.
Typically, production times for these cams is 29 hours. The outer plastic layer is 1.2mm thick, printed with SMOOTH PA, which is a carbon fiber filled plastic with excellent wear resistance.
REINFORCEMENT SCHEME | 5 COMPOSITE OUTER PERIMETERS, 50% COMPOSITE ISOGRID INFILL |
|---|---|
PLASTIC | SMOOTH PA |
FIBER | COMPOSITE CARBON FIBER (CCF) |
WEIGHT | 251 G |
PRINT TIME | 29 HOURS |
MATERIALS COST, PER CM³ | ~$1.55 AUD |
MATERIALS COST, TOTAL | ~$100.00 AUD |
Composite Tool for Turbine Blade Production
8x weight reduction and 40% cost savings.
Shovel machines are used to convert mechanical motion into kinetic energy of a liquid or gas. They are used in impellers, turbines, turbopump units, fans, etc. It’s necessary to change the cross-section, thickness and inclination angle in different zones of the blade for higher efficiency. Metal stamps are traditionally used as tools for producing such blades since they have a complex shape. Different blade shapes require different stamps that in case of metal tools leads to a significant amount of cost and time..
Weight and cost of the tool can be dramatically reduced if it’s produced from composite materials using anisoprinting technology.
400 BAR PRESSURE | METAL | ANISOPRINTED COMPOSITE (Smooth PA + CBF) | SAVINGS |
|---|---|---|---|
Weight | 600g | 251g | 87% |
Price | AUD$175.00 | AUD$70.00 | 40% |
Continuous fiber 3D printing decreases the tool’s weight 8xthat allows using cheaper equipment and operating it easier.
At the same time, there is a 40% cost reduction in comparison to the metal part withstanding the same strength.
Moreover, when printing tools on the Anisoprint Composer continuous composite 3D printer you know the exact date when you get the part without spending any time communicating with 3rd parties you outsource your machined parts to.
PLASTIC | SMOOTH PA |
FIBER | COMPOSITE BASALT FIBER (CCF) |
WEIGHT | 3500 G |
PRINT TIME | 340 HOURS |
MATERIALS COST, TOTAL | ~$955.00 AUD |
Composite Rocker for a Downhill Bike
40% reduction in manufacturing costs, 35% reduction in weight with smart load-orientated reinforcement.
Due to extremal operation conditions, downhill bikes should withstand significant loads, and one of the keys to this is a reliable suspension.
The rocker is an element in a suspension that obtains flexural loads while riding a bike. It’s often produced from metal by CNC technology (milling) that gives enough strength but is expensive. Continuous fiber 3D printing is a good opportunity to get the part of the same strength but reducing the cost and at th same time, the weight, which in sports, is always a good thing.
The composite rocker was printed on the Anisoprint Composer 3D printer from Smooth PA plastic reinforced with continuous fibers. The part withstands the same loads as metal one, however, is 40% cheaper to make and 35% lighter..
On this kind of bike, the components that could be also manufactured with anisoprinting are the front fork clamp and the pedal crank. Combining a 30% of weight reduction on each of these components, it’s possible to achieve at least a 1000g reduction, depending on the geometry of each part.
METAL | ANISOPRINTED COMPOSITE (SMOOTH PA + CBF) | |
|---|---|---|
Weight | 500g | 325g |
Price | AUD$590.00 | AUD$390.00 |
One of the most important advantages of anisoprinting is its capability to produce parts with the smart load-oriented reinforcement.
The rocker is reinforced in accordance with the expected loads using only the required amount of material. In contrast with milling, you get lots of waste that also has an impact on the overall manufacturing costs.
“One important aspect of using 3D printing in this business is to have the possibility to customize each frame on riders requirement.
It’s quite important because to be cost-competitive even if the frame is hand made, manufacturers need to keep some area of the CF frame standard and then adapt the frame on linear sections. In this way, bike manufacturers would have more flexibility in their bikes.”
— Filippo Pagnani, CEO of Prototipa Design, Italy
REINFORCEMENT SCHEME | 10 COMPOSITE PERIMETERS, 80% COMPOSITE ISOGRID INFILL |
|---|---|
PLASTIC | SMOOTH PA |
FIBER | COMPOSITE CARBON FIBER (CCF) |
WEIGHT | 325 G |
PRINT TIME | 100 HOURS |
MATERIALS COST, TOTAL | ~$390.00 AUD |
Clevis for Dairy Production Line
Production downtime reduced from 3 months to 6 hours. 3D Anisoprinted clevis has longer lifespan due to resistance to peroxide hydrogen.
A dairy brand company uses a clevis fixture at the production line. The clevis moves through, catches a yoghurt bottle and sends it to the washing area. The part is washed with peroxide hydrogen. The original part is made from milled polyamide, replacing a destroyed one takes 3 months due to ordering from a third-party. During this time, the production line fully stops: the company doesn’t get enough sales volume and suffers losses.
The part printed on Anisoprint Composer reduced production downtime from 3 months to 6 hours. It was made from PETG, which is resistant to peroxide plastic, and then reinforced with continuous carbon fiber by using anisoprinting technology. Due to the peroxide resistance, the lifespan of the clevis’ increased.
Anisoprinting technology allows using any plastic as a matrix, so it’s possible to get composites with continuous fibers with the chemical properties you need for the application.
REINFORCEMENT SCHEME | 3 COMPOSITE PERIMETERS |
|---|---|
PLASTIC | PET G |
FIBER | COMPOSITE CARBON FIBER (CCF) |
WEIGHT | 35.2 G |
PRINT TIME | 6 HOURS |
MATERIALS COST, PER CC | ~$1.12 AUD |
MATERIALS COST, TOTAL | ~$31.00 AUD |
Legs for Mobile Robot used for Sensing, Inspection and Remote Operation
By Anisoprinting robotic legs, MSU were able to reduce weight by 70% and lower manufacturing costs by 40%.
In the Institute of Mechanics of MSU a mobile robot — an analogue of BostonDynamics Spot was developed.
Autonomous operation requires energy which depends on the robot’s weight. Some of the components of the robot can be produced from composites with continuous fibers. It noticeably reduces the weight and allows robot to work longer without charge.
That’s the strategy the developers chose for their robot was to make it more functional.
For this robot as for any other innovative development, it’s very important to have flexibility in terms of design changes. Traditional manufacturing technologies can’t provide the freedom to change a prototype with many iterations without a significant time and money, however, with 3D printing, it can.
With Anisoprint technology, you can easily set fiber laying paths and infill density in their special slicing software, Aura, to make the part more or less stronger according to results of the field tests.
With the possibility of changing prototypes anytime without spending a significant amount of time and money, the team reduced manufacturing costs by 40% in comparison to milling the part from Aluminium, which requires significantly more effort to redesign a part iteration.
To make the robot work longer, it’s necessary to reduce its weight as much as possible. Using anisoprinting it’s feasible to get the part of the same strength and stiffness characteristics but 70% lighter than the metal analogue.
ALUMINIUM | ANISOPRINTED COMPOSITE (SMOOTH PA + CCF) | SAVINGS | |
|---|---|---|---|
Weight | 1225g | 350g | 70% |
Price | AUD$715.00 | AUD$400.00 | 40% |
REINFORCEMENT SCHEME | 3 OUTER COMPOSITE PERIMETERS, 3 INNER COMPOSITE PERMITERS, 50% COMPOSITE ISOGRID INFILL |
|---|---|
PLASTIC | SMOOTH PA |
FIBER | COMPOSITE CARBON FIBER (CCF) |
WEIGHT | 350 G |
PRINT TIME | 144 HOURS |
MATERIALS COST, PER CC | ~$3.42 AUD |
MATERIALS COST, TOTAL | ~$400.00 AUD |
Parts with Holes (Kirsch Problem)
This experimental sample with a hole was reinforced without increasing its weight, while maintaining uniform stress distribution.
The fiber steering plate is an experimental demonstration of the method where anisoprinting an efficient reinforcement design of parts with the holes.
Holes are stress concentrators, significantly reducing the strength of structural elements. Traditionally, to increase the strength of an element, a part thickness is enhanced which leads to increasing the weight of the part.
The part can be reinforced by using curvilinear trajectories that suit the load distribution and this type of reinforcement doesn’t require an increase in weight and only possible with a special approach to fiber laying from Anisoprint.
PLASTIC | PET G |
FIBER | COMPOSITE CARBON FIBER (CCF) |
WEIGHT | 50 G |
PRINT TIME | 7 HOURS |
MATERIALS COST, PER CC | ~$0.62 AUD |
MATERIALS COST, TOTAL | ~$26.00 AUD |
Aircraft Seat Support
An Airplanes lifetime cost was reduced through a 40% weight reduction of an anisoprinted aircraft seat support
Aircraft seat support bears 1.5 tons of load. The original part is made from aluminum and weighs 400g. We’ve anisoprinted a new part on Composer A4 3D printer with a 40% weight reduction.
With 100 such seat supports in an average single-aisle passenger plane, this weight reduction can add up to saving 25 kg per plane. In such fields as aerospace every kilo matters. Cost of fuel for every kilo in an airplane is $2000 a year and by just reducing the seat support, would save $50,000 a year, per plane.
REINFORCEMENT SCHEME | 10 COMPOSITE PERIMETERS |
|---|---|
PLASTIC | PETG |
FIBER | COMPOSITE CARBON FIBER (CCF) |
WEIGHT | 250 G |
PRINT TIME | 40 HOURS |
MATERIALS COST, PER CC | ~$2.00 AUD |
MATERIALS COST, TOTAL | ~$412.00 AUD |
Contact Us
If you would learn more about Anisoprinting, please contact us by calling on 1800 490 514, by filling out the form or clicking the live chat in the bottom right-hand corner.
