Saint-Gobain uses ExOne’s Binder Jetting for technical ceramics
January 31, 2022
Saint-Gobain Research North America, Northborough, Massachusetts, USA, a research company that designs, manufactures, and distributes a variety of technical materials using advanced manufacturing to develop innovative solutions in a variety of sectors, has utilised two Binder Jetting (BJT) systems from the ExOne Company, North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, USA, to research, develop and scale commercial Additive Manufacturing applications with technical ceramics, explains ExOne in a recent case study.
The R&D organisation at Saint-Gobain comprises local teams dedicated to specific businesses, as well as a network of eight R&D centres that serve all the businesses of Saint-Gobain globally. Saint-Gobain Research North America is home to an AM team dedicated to improving the production or performance of Saint-Gobain products via AM, as well as advancing the use of Additive Manufacturing for ceramics within the Saint-Gobain portfolio.
Saint-Gobain invested in its first ExOne BJT machine, an Innovent, in 2018. The flexibility of the machine allowed is said to have enabled the team to perform research on a variety of their ceramic materials. To further advance the initial materials research into production-ready applications, the company then invested in an X1 25Pro in 2020.
“The team is a centralised service for all Saint-Gobain business,” stated Nick Orf, Additive Manufacturing Group Leader. “We work closely with our business unit colleagues to identify where Saint-Gobain materials can be used in the 3D printing industry, where can we use the technology to develop new products internally, and where we can connect our business with startups and manufacturers in the AM space. We see Binder Jetting as a highly scalable technology, which is obviously very important if the process is to be used for commercial production.”
Download the full case study from ExOne here.
