Anisoprint launches ProM IS 500 industrial continuous fiber 3D printer

Anisoprint showed its newest product, the Anisoprint ProM IS 500 during Formnext. Now the company is officially announcing it as the first industrial 3D printer specifically designed to print high-temperature thermoplastics with continuous fiber reinforcement.

The system is designed to include industrial components, CNC, quality control and safety systems, thus providing precise, repeatable and reliable manufacturing of mid-sized composite parts: the printer’s build volume is an impressive 600 mm x 420 mm x 300 mm. The ProM will be equipped with a heated chamber for printing high-temperature polymers such as PEEK or PEI, automated calibration, material and print quality controls, high-precision motion control, supporting industrial interfaces and safety requirements. It was designed to run 24/7 in a factory environment.

The new product is also based on Anisoprint’s patented Composite Fiber Co-extrusion (CFC) technology and represents another step towards the advent of the “anisoprinting era” — a new approach to manufacturing. The company sequentially develops its ideas on how manufacturing in the 21st century should look like, with products moving rapidly from the desktop to the factory floor. The Anisoprint ProM IS 500 takes this process to the next level from Anisoprint’s first product, the Composer, a desktop continuous fiber 3D printer, also based on CFC technology.

Anisoprinting technology allows manufacturing of optimal composite parts that are stronger and lighter than their metal or non-optimal counterparts. Plastic reinforced with Anisoprint materials has 860 MPa tensile strength while the density is 1.4 g/cm³, making 2 times lighter than aluminum. Special fiber laying (in the form of lattices) ensures maximum properties with minimal material usage for the design loads. It significantly reduces weight, production time and, eventually, the price of the part. The ProM IS 500 is meant to replace less efficient traditional technologies and materials for manufacturing mid-sized tools, spare parts and functional prototypes for aerospace, automotive, robotics and other industries.

The Anisoprint ProM IS 500 will have up to 4 changeable print heads for printing composites and pure plastic. With them, it will be possible to reinforce different zones of the part with different composites (e.g. carbon/basalt) depending on the user’s goal. High-temperature plastics such as PEEK and PEI will be available as a matrix material for composites anisoprinted on ProM IS 500. That significantly expands applications of 3D printed parts bringing them in the areas of aggressive environments. The first ProM IS 500 systems are expected to ship at the end of 2020.