3D printed mold for silicone

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3d printer for silicone molds and products

With a 3D printer, you can create many complex and unusual products from various materials. In recent years, silicone 3D printing has become increasingly popular, which allows you to create implants, organ prototypes, and other useful products. Let's take a closer look at silicone printing, products that can be created with its help, the necessary equipment and the prospects for the development of new technology.

What is 3D printing silicone?

Silicone is a polymer that consists of chains of alternating silicon and oxygen atoms. This material is resistant to various temperature ranges and various chemicals.

In 2016, Wacker Chemie found the most efficient way to 3D print silicone products. Based on this technology, Fripp Design, Envisiontec, Carbon 3D developed and produced equipment and materials that made it possible to work with silicone on a 3D printer.

Silicone is most often used in the medical industry to create objects that are resistant to changing environmental conditions. Until 2016, it was possible to create medical objects from silicone only with the help of injection molding of thermoplastics (injection molding). However, the new technology of additive 3D printing allows you to create smaller parts at an acceptable cost compared to injection molded products.

3D silicone printing technology

3D printer, which can print silicone products, has the same principle of operation as an inkjet printer. Liquid molten silicone is fed through the extruder in small droplets that are superimposed on each other, forming layers. The printer software is responsible for the correct formation of lines and shapes as a whole.

The curing process is required for the silicone to cure. It is performed using ultraviolet radiation, which forms cross-links between sections of the polymer chain. Due to this, the silicone is strengthened and becomes heat resistant.

3D printed silicone inside a microgel

Silicone 3D printed inside a microgel was developed at the University of Florida. This technology makes it possible to create more durable, but at the same time flexible and comfortable implants. At the same time, the cost of their production will be significantly lower, as well as the final cost for buyers. In the future, silicone printing inside the microgel will allow the creation of various therapeutic devices and very complex structures, such as human organs and tissues.

This 3D printing method allows you to create individual products of various shapes. The printing nozzle moves along a predetermined path and extrudes liquid silicone drop by drop onto the microorganic gel substrate. Depending on the complexity of the finished product, the printing process can take from several hours to several days.

Application of silicone mold printer

3D silicone mold printer is applicable to the following industries:

1. Medicine. Silicone is biologically compatible with the human body, does not have a toxic effect on it and is resistant to the influence of an aggressive environment. Thanks to this, the material is used for the production of:

• individual implants;
• respiratory masks;
• hearing aids;
• ear prostheses;
• training preoperative organ models;
• spectacle nose pads;
• contact lenses.

2. Automotive industry. Due to the resistance of silicone to extreme temperatures and solar radiation, it is used for the production of automotive plugs, hose. The presence of waterproofing properties also allow the use of silicone for the manufacture of seals in hydraulic systems and materials for sealing automotive joints.
3. Manufacture of everyday or sports articles. The elasticity of silicone and the safety of its use makes it possible to produce insoles for running shoes, ear plugs for headphones, and wristbands.
4. Manufacture of souvenirs and jewelry.

Which 3D printer is suitable for silicone products?

What to look for when choosing?

When choosing a 3D printer for printing silicone products, you should pay attention to three main parameters of the device:

1. Extruder. It must be inkjet, as liquid silicone is used for printing.
2. Integrated heater and pump. To prevent liquid silicone from cooling down during printing and not clumping, the printer must have a heater that will constantly maintain the same temperature. It is also important to have a pump. It will help to evenly supply liquid filament to the work surface from the extruder.
3. Closed print area. It is necessary for the vulcanization of the printed blank. An ultraviolet emitter is located in the printed area, and the area itself is closed with a darkened glass dome.

German RepRap LAM PRE-SERIES 3D printer

Ideal for printing silicone products. It adopts FDM technology, in which two-component liquid silicone rubber (LSR) is mixed by a pneumatic piston and extruded by an extruder. Then each layer of material is thermally cured under the action of an infrared rod.

The FDM technology used by the printer has increased print speed, reduced waste during production, completely eliminated post-processing of the product and accelerated its time to market.

The operation of the device is controlled using the touch screen. The printer uses Simplify3D software to process 3D models.

3D printer German RepRap LAM PRE-SERIES

• Base platform heated
• The weight 80
• Material LC-3335
• Seal FDM
• Working chamber area 390 x 400 x 330 mm
• Speed 6000 mm/m or 100 mm/s
• Number of print heads 1
• Layer thickness from 100 µm
• Nozzle diameter, mm 0. 4

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Top 9 Silicone 3D Printers0021

The following professional silicone 3D printers have proven themselves in the market:

1. EnvisionTEC - printing medical and dental parts (Perfactory Micro, Vida HD CROWN & BRIDGE and Xede 3SP Ortho lines).
2. Structo - creation of dental products (OrthoForm, DentaForm series).
3. Total Z - printing of advertising, souvenir, layout and educational products (Anyform line).
4. Stratasys - creation of parts for the automotive, aerospace, defense industries (Connex Objet series), printing of dental products (J720 Dental line).
6. 3D Systems - printing of souvenirs, models, promotional items and educational products (sPro series).
7. Sinterit Lisa Set is a system for creating advertising, souvenir, mock-up and educational products.
8. Intamsys FUNMAT PRO 610 HT is an industrial printer for printing large items and testing functional parts under critical conditions.

3D printer Intamsys FUNMAT PRO 610 HT

• Software IntamSuit, Simplify 3D, Cura

• Control connection interfaces WiFi, Internet, USB
• Material PEEK, PEKK, PEI, PPSU, PC, Nylon, ABS, PLA, PVA, TPU, Carbonfiber Reinforcement
• Seal FDM
• Supported file formats STL, OBJ
• Z-axis resolution 0.0016 mm
• Resolution X and Y 0.016 mm
• Platen temperature 300°C
• Extruder temperature 500°C
• Working chamber area 610 x 508 x 508 mm
• Number of print heads 2
• Layer thickness from 50 µm
• Thread diameter 1. 75
• Nozzle diameter, mm 0.4 (0.25, 0.5, 0.6, 0.8, 1.2 mm)
• Display 7" color touch screen

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Sinterit Lisa Set

• Control connection interfaces WiFi
• Laser IR 5W
• Maximum Layer Height 0.15 mm
• Maximum consumer power 24 W
• Maximum build chamber temperature 105 °C
• Maximum platform temperature for printing 190 °C
• Max extruder temperature 275 °C
• Material PA12 smooth, flexa Black
• Minimum Layer Height 0. 06 mm
• Seal SLS
• Food 110/120 V or 220/230 V
• Supported Software Sinterit Studio 2016
• Dimensions (mm) Sinterit Lisa - 650x550x450; Sinterit Sieve - 600x340x330; Sinterit Sandblaster - 480x370x360
• Accuracy along X, Y axes, mm 0.1
• Speed 15 mm / hour
• Layer thickness from 75 µm

• Weight, kg Sinterit Lisa - 35;Sinterit Sieve - 22. 5;Sinterit Sandblaster-15

• Data output format STL, OBJ, 3DS, FBX, DAE, 3MF

• Max workpiece size PA12: 90x110x130 mm, flexa Black: 110x130x150 mm
• Print area Sinterit Lisa - 150x200x150 mm; Sinterit Sandblaster - 410x310x200 mm
• Operating system Microsoft Windows

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The future of silicone 3D printing

Silicone printing was originally developed for medical applications. Therefore, the most promising goal is the development and creation of silicone tissues and human organs that imitate real ones with great accuracy.

Help. The first attempts to create a human organ from a silicone filament were made at the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich. The artificial heart in design and movement completely imitated the real one. However, the silicone model takes only 3,000 strokes to wear out, which is equivalent to a lifespan of less than one hour.

In 2021, only training and demonstration organs are printed from silicone, which help to study human physiology during training in medical specialties. The first experimental implants and prostheses also began to be developed.

Silicone 3D printing with silicone is a new, emerging technology. It is considered very promising due to the ease of use of the material, its high elasticity, wear resistance, resistance to radiation and aggressive chemical environments.

• March 14, 2021
• 6273

Get expert advice

3D printed silicone mold cover.

Many craftsmen involved in small-scale casting are familiar with the process of creating casings for matrix silicone molds, this is a very laborious and rather "dirty" process:

fiberglass cloth impregnated with epoxy or polyester resin. Below is a photo of the process of creating a matrix form for one of my masks using the classic method.

Matrix molds allow you to save silicone and repeat the silicone mold in a short time, since the casing is always the same, only the silicone part changes.

For several years I had the idea to try to print a casing on a 3D printer, but everything rested on the skill of 3D modeling, since it is quite difficult to explain the features of the process to a modeller, and I myself could only cut models in Netfabb. But time passed and I had to study 3D modeling more closely: Fusion 360, Blender, Netfabb.

As it turned out, modeling the casing is not that difficult, you don't need deep knowledge, just the basics.

First, I would like to say a big thank you to Greg for providing the filament for my experiments) the plastic is chic, not nearly inferior to the Moscow manufacturer. I have already printed several tens of kilograms and everything is in order. I recommend taking PLA or Petg plastic for casings, they have good sintering of the layers.

Let's get started!

All you need to model the casing is Blender, Netfabb and the model itself.

Blender is a fairly cheap program, I advise you to buy on Steam to receive updates.

Netfabb is already much more expensive, so I advise you to download from the torrent.

As an example, I took Smoke's mask from the Mortal Kombat game by bkzthunder

Open Blender and import the mask model. The first thing we need to do is to think over the place where the plastic is poured - the "sprue" and the places for the air to exit - the "bulges", also check that the protrusions are located wherever air pockets are possible.

In the case of the Smoke mask, I decided to place a sprue on the top of the nose and two sprues at the ends of the mask near the ears, the sprues do not have to be wide, about 2-3 mm is enough, the sprue is the larger the better, but we must remember that the plastic will harden in these channels and they will have to be cut and sanded. I made the sprue the same as the sprue - 3 mm and this was my mistake, then I had to cut the silicone, since the plastic did not have time to pass through such a small hole, it is better to make at least 6 mm.

Shift + A - add an object, select a cylinder, press the letter N it doesn’t work if specialists read it - I will be glad for advice, although I have already tried all the tutorials) and scale using the letter S (press X, Y or Z if you need to scale relative to a specific axis). We select the sprue and sprue through Shift , right click and select join .

Once the sprue and lugs are in place, you can begin to create a border between the two halves of the mold, here it is also very important to pay attention to the location of this border, because its location will determine how easy it will be to connect and separate the halves. In some cases, it is required to make a casing from 3-4 or more parts, in our case it was necessary to make three parts, but I arrogantly made it out of two, which is why I had to modify it later.

Add through the same Shift + A model Plane , enter edit mode through TAB , in the upper left corner select selection Face , right click on the polygon and press Subdivide . Select two polygons on the same side of the Y axis and delete via the X key, selecting Face (depending on the axis along which your object is symmetrical). Next, in the panel on the right, select the icon wrench and press Add Modifier , select the modifier mirror and select your main model through the pipette. Now all actions with one half of the polygon will be repeated on the other. Also in the modifier, check the box Clipping . At this stage, you can delete the edge in the middle (select the edge, press X and select Dissolve edges ), it will be easier. With key G(move) and R(rotate) and X, Y, Z we move to the place where the border will be, it is important to position it so that one side enters the inside of the model, and the other departs from the model by 10 centimeters. Next, select the edge between the edge that enters the model and the opposite one and extrude it with the letter E. Important make sure that the border passes in the middle of the sprue and protrusions, as well as its lower part is always inside the model. Extrude this edge until it connects to itself. Then press Ctrl + R and place the yellow line about 1-1.5 cm from the mask, this will be the future length of the silicone bead. I recommend to exit edit mode, press Apply in modifier mirror and copy our border through Shift + D , but don't move it. Select the copy of the border, press TAB and delete all long polygons. We exit the edit mode and add the modifier Solidify, to both our sides, setting the parameter offset to 0.

When our auxiliary models are ready, we export them separately in the stl format to a separate folder via File - Export - stl (do not forget to press selection only in the save window on the right) and sign accordingly.

Open Netfabb and add all files except for the big border to the project.

Each imported object, including the mask, is "healed":

When everything is cured, select all models and perform a boolean operation (union). Yes, this can be done in Blender, but familiar modellers unanimously recommended doing it right away in Netfabb.

We have one object, now we need to make an imitation of a silicone mold. Select the mask and then right mouse button - Extras - Create Shell , in the window that opens in Shell thickness set 5 mm (the optimal thickness of silicone), on the right set Outer offset, below in Accuracy set 1 mm, I do not recommend put less, there will be a very heavy model.

We get this beauty:

Select - Right mouse button - Export Part - as STL , label "Silicone mold without locks and sprue"

Go back to Blender, import our silicone mold, hide everything in the upper right by clicking on the eye icon.

Now we need to make "locks" and a sprue on the silicone mold, the locks are needed to keep the mold in the same position during each casting cycle, and the sprue is clear, you need to fill in the silicone somehow.

The sprue needs to be made large, about 3-4 cm in diameter, it can be placed immediately on the border of the casing, or on each side separately, in my case it can be placed on the border. Check that the part that enters the silicone mold enters it completely and smoothly, without sharp corners, for this you can extrude the bottom circle in edit mode and place it inside the silicone mold, scaling and moving. You can also "pull" the silicone mold itself onto the sprue using the Sculpting tab, I recommend watching tutorial videos on YouTube, otherwise this long post will become even longer)

I advise you to make locks of a trapezoidal shape from cylinders: add a cylinder, scale to the desired size and scale the top cover in edit mode. I also advise adding the modifier mirror - will be half as much work. We place the locks on the surface of the silicone mold so that they are a little buried in it (you need at least 2-3 pieces), but do not overdo it, distribute it evenly over the surface and do not forget about the back of the silicone mold.

Select the locks, sprue, large rim and combine them into one file through right mouse button - Join, export them as a separate file and combine them with the silicone mold in Netfabb. We apply Create shell to the silicone mold, but set the thickness not 5 mm, but 3 mm: with this thickness, the casing will be strong and light, you can make it thicker, but as for me it is superfluous.

We get the casing itself, but it is still raw, we need to refine it.

Next, you need to cut off the excess, follow the instructions in the picture:

I just forgot to check the box at the bottom left opposite Only selected parts. Remove the cut piece.

Use a boolean operation and "subtract" the silicone mold with the large rim from the resulting casing. Using the arrows below the parts list, move the silicone mold file to the right column, the shape will turn red, which means it will be subtracted or green casing when we press minus.

Now you need to split the shell into two separate files, right mouse button - Extended - Shells to parts

No need to expand, I just did it for clarity.

Export models to Blender.

It remains to make holes for the screws that will tighten the two halves with each other and holes for the air outlet. I use M6 screws, so I made the holes 6.2mm. We model cylinders with a diameter of 6.2 mm and a length of several centimeters, set along the perimeter of the side using modifier mirror. Make sure the cylinders are perpendicular to the bead. We also make cylinders with a diameter of 2 mm and place them over the entire area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe casing and in places where air can get stuck.

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