Photo: FYi Design Dept.
Everyone on the lean R&D team at FYi Design Dept. works on every step in the development process — including 3D printing — delivering complex prototypes in days. This means the technology they use needs to be reliable, easy to use, and fast. But producing elastomeric parts that go into mechanical assemblies, especially as a transition from hard assemblies into soft ones, can be difficult to produce quickly and easily while still delivering the spring back, rebound rate, elongation, and tear resistance required of these parts.
“Flexible 80A Resin has been a gamechanger in enabling us to iterate and design faster. The team has been impressed with the rebound, elongation, and tear strength.”
Derek Disanjh, R&D Mechanical Engineer, FYi Design Dept.
In his search to find an elastomeric material with the optimal balance of aesthetics, mechanical properties, and easy workflow, R&D Mechanical Engineer Disanjh tested the new Flexible 80A Resin.
“The new Flexible 80A Resin has given us the ability to benefit from the ease of use, speed, and reliability of the Form ecosystem with an elastic material that is competitive to what Carbon offered.”
Derek Disanjh, R&D Mechanical Engineer, FYi Design Dept.
The new Flexible 80A Resin has improved rebound, higher tear strength, and higher elongation at break. (Photos: FYi Design Dept.)
With a matte black finish and enhanced mechanical properties, Flexible 80A Resin is easily printed on Form 4 Generation stereolithography (SLA) 3D printers, delivering parts that will be embedded into 3D knits or laminated into textile assemblies. These models of wearable technology and technical apparel are used for beta testing and early evaluation of concept and design by FYi.
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Finding an Optimal Elastomeric Material
Located in Squamish, British Columbia, FYi Design Dept. specializes in R&D at the intersection between technology, soft goods, and hard goods. In the past, FYi printed flexible materials on Carbon 3D printers to make elastomeric parts. While Disanjh liked the material, the workflow was difficult and only one member of the team had the expertise to print, disrupting timelines. This led Disanjh to investigate alternative elastomeric materials for 3D printing.
In Disanjh’s testing, LOCTITE 3D IND402 didn’t perform as well as the Carbon material. Formlabs Flexible 50A Resin and the old Flexible 80A Resin failed to deliver the performance and aesthetics Disanjh desired.
Unlike Flexible 50A Resin and the original formulation of Flexible 80A Resin, which are clear, parts printed with the new Flexible 80A Resin have a matte black finish and improved mechanical properties: 4x higher rebound, 2x higher tear strength, 2x higher elongation at break, and improved aging compared to the previous version.
Disanjh says, “The surface finish of the part is very important to us. The team has similarly been impressed with the rebound of the material. Other 3D printed elastomers feel dead.”
But it’s not just the aesthetic and mechanical properties that have Disanjh selecting Flexible 80A Resin, it’s the entire Form 4 Ecosystem.
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A Fast, Easy-to-Use Ecosystem
“We work in a very fast-paced environment. Our turnaround time on models could be days. So speed, execution, post-processing, reliability of the print, pre-print setup… the whole ecosystem feeds into what makes a good material just as much as the validity of the material properties.”
Derek Disanjh, R&D Mechanical Engineer, FYi Design Dept.
FYi uses a wide variety of 3D printers, including Formlabs Form 4 Generation SLA 3D printers, Stratasys J850, HP MJF, and fused deposition modeling (FDM) printers from Bambu Lab. Materials are selected as much for the ease of printing as for the mechanical properties and aesthetics.
“Hands down, the Formlabs is the better solution for elastomeric parts, and that's because of how it plugs into our R&D process.”
Derek Disanjh, R&D Mechanical Engineer, FYi Design Dept.
Disanjh and his colleagues were already printing with Form 4 Generation 3D printers, including the Tough Resins Family. They appreciated the easy workflows empowering anyone on the team to print, and the reliability and speed of printing and post-processing, for meeting deadlines.
“The speed of the Form Cure V2 has really enabled the team to lean into the Form Ecosystem a lot more,” says Disanjh. Though Flexible 80A Resin requires two post-cure steps, including one with parts submerged in water, Disanjh says, “The result we’re getting is worth that step,” especially as total cure time is only 10 minutes in Form Cure V2.
Flexible 80A Resin was developed to print on Form 4 Generation 3D printers and is black in color. (Photo: FYi Design Dept.)
Parts are washed — here in Form Wash L — before undergoing two post-cure steps. (Photo: FYi Design Dept.)
This Flexible 80A Resin part is printed on supports, which are removed before post-curing. (Photo: FYi Design Dept.)
A post-cure step with the part submerged in water helps to achieve a fine, tack-free surface. (Photo: FYi Design Dept.)
Upgrading Prototyping Abilities
“We're now able to design, iterate, prototype, and get real-world data on our ideas at the speed that we're currently iterating with all hard plastics. It’s upgraded our ability to use soft and elastomeric materials in our design process as we would with the rigid materials.”
Derek Disanjh, R&D Mechanical Engineer, FYi Design Dept.
While the team does cast some parts too large to print on Formlabs printers, creating the molds takes deep knowledge of geometries and materials, and the mold release can interfere with the lamination process required for many parts. Disanjh adds, “That doesn't even begin to tell the story of designing and prototyping the mold. Now you've almost doubled your development time because you need to prove out this other step of the process.”
By contrast, with Flexible 80A Resin and Form 4, “If you can just hit print and go, you get a real-world-like part just the same as you would get a tough part, like how Tough 2000 Resin emulates ABS.”
From materials to technologies, Disanjh is always looking for new innovations that unlock speed, shortening the time it takes to get his ideas into reality. It’s this investment in innovation that makes FYi one of the most capable design and fabrication shops in the world.
Request a free sample part to evaluate Flexible 80A Resin for yourself or buy the material to start printing flexible parts on Form 4 Generation 3D printers.