Israel-based company XJet has just announced the addition of ceramic inkjet 3D printing for its line of NanoParticle Jetting (NPJ) systems that were introduced earlier this year. Ceramic parts printed with the technology will be on display at formnext in Frankfurt, taking place next week.
After being unveiled at the RAPID Show in Orlando this year, XJet’s NPJ-technology was identified as a possible game-changer due to its levels of details, surface finish and accuracy.
“After many years of research, we are excited to have reached this milestone of development, producing another high quality material through NanoParticle Jetting (NPJ),” said Hanan Gothait, CEO and founder of XJet. “NPJ is a truly disruptive technology as it offers a totally new level of fine details, material properties and simple clean operation without the need to design or remove complex support structures.”
NanoParticle Jetting produces an ultra-thin layer of droplets containing ceramic nanoparticles. These are deposited onto the system build-tray, producing ceramic parts. Delivered as sealed cartridges, the liquid dispersions are loaded easily into the XJet system, eliminating the need to handle dangerous powders. Inside the system’s build envelope, extremely high temperatures cause the liquid ‘jacket’ around the ceramic nanoparticles to evaporate. This results in the same mechanical properties as parts made in a traditional way. In addition, the ceramic part undergoes an easy sintering process, with the supports removed simply and with almost no manual intervention.
Dror Danai, Chief Business Officer of XJet adds: “The expansion of NanoParticle Jetting to include ceramics will allow XJet to address an even wider range of applications, such as dental, medical and specific industrial applications. At formnext we will demonstrate how the usage of ink-jet technology, and it’s very large tray, will encourage more industries to look at Ceramic Additive Manufacturing as an option for both customized parts and relatively large scale manufacturing of small parts.”
Following video gives a detailed insight into XJet’s NPJ technology:
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