German engineering group Oechsler (Ansbach; www.oechsler.com) and Hewlett Packard (HP, Palo Alto, California / USA; www.hp.com) have formed a new alliance for the mass production of 3D-printed parts. The work spearheaded by HP’s fleet of “Jet Fusion 5200” 3D printers will focus on joint development of high-performance lattice structures and innovative applications using the California company’s suite of materials as well as materials of other producers, including the new HP 3D polypropylene enabled by BASF (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.basf.com) and the German chemical group’s “Ultrasint” TPU01 thermoplastic polyurethane.

BASF – which also has a partnership with Oechsler – and HP have meanwhile expanded their existing alliance on digital manufacturing. The two sides are working with innovators in the automotive, consumer, medical and industrial sectors to open up new market opportunities. This partnership focuses on enabling companies across industries to design and produce 3D printed parts faster, more cost-effectively, more sustainably and at higher volumes, the companies said.

François Minec, managing director at BASF 3D Printing Solutions (B3DPS, Heidelberg / Germany; www.forward-am.com), a subsidiary of BASF New Business, said the partnership with HP helps the company’s customers to shape the additive manufacturing industrialisation. “The introduction of PP is another important step,” Minec added. Late last year, the German group rebranded its additive manufacturing as “Forward AM” (see Plasteurope.com of 18.11.2019).

BASF is a founding partner of HP’s 3D printing materials ecosystem. To date, the two giants have collaborated on a variety of materials including Ultrasint, which was developed for HP’s Jet Fusion 5200 3D printers. Separately, BASF’s new PP is claimed to enable the complete reuse of collected surplus powder, leading to less waste and more efficient production.

HP said its new polypropylene provides an additive manufacturing material offering the same properties as commonly used PPs in injection moulding. With its excellent chemical resistance, low moisture absorption and long-term durability, the company said the new PP will allow carmakers to use the same PP for prototyping and production of final parts found in vehicles’ interior, exterior and under-the-bonnet.

The German petrochemical giant’s Forward AM team and HP are working together with printed parts manufacturers and customers for parts to jointly develop applications with the new PP on HP’s 3D printing systems. The list of partners includes Extol (Zeeland, Michigan / USA; www.extolinc.com), Prototal (Jönköping / Sweden; www.prototal.se), GKN (Redditch / UK; www.gkn.com), Forecast 3D (Carlsbad, California; www.forecast3d.com) and Henkel (Düsseldorf / Germany; www.henkel.com).

Sculpteo, which BASF New Business acquired in 2019, recently released a report on 3D printing (see Plasteurope.com of 15.06.2020).