A few months ago a company called Mark Forged announced the world’s first carbon fiber 3d printer, the Mark One. Such a device is capable of printing extremely strong objects, leapfrogging the basic plastic printers on the market. Today a Silicon Valley start up, Arevo Labs, announced what seems like an even more technologically advanced breakthrough than what Mark Forged showed off a few months back.
Arevo’s patent pending technology makes it possible to 3D print out objects which are reinforced with carbon fiber as well as carbon nanotubes. Such an advancement within the 3d printing industry could be a huge step forward for the aerospace, healthcare and government defense industries.
Supported materials of this technology include polymers such as KetaSpire® PEEK, AvaSpire® PAEK, Radel® PPSU and PrimoSpire® SRP. What is even more inpressive is Arevo’s offering which consists of proprietary carbon fiber and carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced high performance materials.
“We are excited about enabling 3D printed Ultra Strong Polymer Parts for the first time,” said Hemant Bheda, founder of Arevo Labs. “OEMs in the aerospace and defense industries, in particular, can now use lighter and stronger production parts not possible to manufacture using conventional methods until now.”
Carbon nanotubes are as futuristic as you can get in material science. They are basically a single layer allotrope of carbon atoms wrapped into a cylindrical shape. Because of their structure they are extremely strong, light weight, and difficult to mass produce.
It will be interesting to follow Arevo Labs over the next few months to see where they take this new technology. Arevo’s main technology consists of advanced materials, algorithmms, and printing technology to optimize mechanical properties of 3d printed objects. Arevo plans to offer the technology and materials to original equipment manufacturers around the globe. Discuss this new technology by Arevo at 3DPrintBoard. Press release found here. Check the video below demonstrating the process briefly.