A New Way to Develop Plastic Products
Selective Thermoplastic Electrophotographic Process (STEP) produces end-use parts in amorphous thermoplastic materials – with properties and dimensional accuracy on par with injection molding. STEP printing decreases the risks during product development by delivering end-use quality parts early, with feature fidelity and repeatability suitable for the entire lifecycle of a product.
Fidelity Fit for Beyond Prototyping
- Fully fused, with zero porosity
- Smooth surfaces (3-6 μm Ra)
- Walls, pins and holes as small as 0.3mm
- Crisp text as fine as 4pt
- Injection-molding resins printed with injection-molded properties
What is Evolve STEP Technology and How Does it Work?
Unlike other additive technologies that have been brought to the market in past 10 years, Evolve STEP Technology has been designed and developed specifically for production manufacturing. STEP’s architecture utilizes the same three process phases – imaging, alignment and fusing – to deliver throughput and quality similar to injection molding.
One of the many benefits of the SVP platform is our closed-loop process with sensor technology; each layer of the build is precisely aligned on top of the next incoming layer and the correct amount of material is deposited. If an error is detected, a correction is made. This means a higher part quality with both repeatability and scalability.
Selective
The first word in STEP is “Selective”. Selective because STEP has the ability to lay down particles in a very precise way. Each voxel (additive description for each 3D pixel) is precisely placed in a layer with a specific material. What’s more, STEP is able to place two separate voxels of 2 different materials, side by side in the same layer (part and support).
Thermoplastic
The second word in the acronym STEP is “Thermoplastic”. This is because STEP has the ability to print parts made with true engineering ABS thermoplastics.
Electrophotographic
The third word is “Electrophotographic” which is a technology word for laser printer. STEP leverages the Kodak NexPress™ print engine, the highest deposition 2D print engine in the world, to image each layer. The use of electrophotography in additive is unique and it is one of the key elements that allows STEP to produce high-fidelity parts.
Process
The fourth word is “Process”. Proprietary hardware and software combine to create a controlled, repeatable manufacturing capability. Vision systems and other closed-loop controls continually monitor the print and adjust if needed in situ.
What differentiates the Evolve SVP platform?
It is the first true plastics manufacturing technology to achieve mass customization,
just-in-time production and dependable quality.