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3D Printing Blog

The i.materialise blog keeps you updated about outstanding 3D designs, the newest 3D printing technologies and the best 3D modeling software tutorials.
Top Reasons to 3D Print with Polypropylene: Versatility, Accuracy, and 500% Elongation at Break

Top Reasons to 3D Print with Polypropylene: Versatility, Accuracy, and 500% Elongation at Break

Polypropylene (PP) is a highly functional plastic commonly used in a wide variety of ways, such as consumer goods, packaging, and automotive applications. So, it was a perfect fit when we added PP to our portfolio of 3D printing materials in 2018. PP, a material option for the selective laser sintering (SLS) technology, offers technical capabilities that provide solutions fit for a variety of applications.

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30 Years of Innovation: How Stereolithography Sparked Materialise’s Inventive Ethos

30 Years of Innovation: How Stereolithography Sparked Materialise’s Inventive Ethos

On June 28th of this year, i.materialise’s parent company Materialise reached its 30th anniversary, and to celebrate, we’re looking back at a different technology on our blog each month that has made the company what it is today. During August, we’re putting the focus on Stereolithography (SLA): the technology behind our Gray, Mammoth, Standard, and Transparent Resin materials.

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3D Printing Technologies: Fused Deposition Modeling

3D Printing Technologies: Fused Deposition Modeling

Contrary to popular belief, there’s not a one-size-fits-all approach to 3D printing. Although we offer 17 different materials and over 90 possible color and finish combinations, it often takes us several different technologies to get the job done.  In general, 3D printing technologies can be split up into 2 groups: direct and indirect 3D printing. The main difference lies in the fact that the design is made from 3D printing (direct) or 3D printing was used in the process of creating your model (indirect). Let’s move on with the third part of this series with fused deposition modeling, probably the most adopted 3D printing technology around and an example of a direct 3D printing technique. 

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30 Years of Innovation: Industry Collaboration Made Multi Jet Fusion a Reality

30 Years of Innovation: Industry Collaboration Made Multi Jet Fusion a Reality

When Multi Jet Fusion first came on the scene a few years ago in 2016, it made a big splash. The 3D printing world was excited to become acquainted with the much-anticipated technology, also called MJF for short. Soon, many realized the potential for their prototypes and end-use parts thanks to its higher surface quality, consistent build time regardless of the number of parts, and the ability to print exceptionally thin walls.

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Miniature, 3D-Printed City Hall of Antwerp Shows off Every Last Detail

Miniature, 3D-Printed City Hall of Antwerp Shows off Every Last Detail

The city hall of Antwerp is one of the city’s architectural crown jewels. Dating back from the 16th century, it hadn’t undergone significant restoration for the last 60 years, and the grand old building was starting to show signs of its age. The municipality of Antwerp has set an ambitious restoration project in motion, which was explained and displayed at Paviljoen Antwerpen Morgen. Held at MAS, the exhibition covered the biggest urban development projects the city has planned for the future. And at center stage was a giant 3D-printed model of the renovated city hall!

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Massive 3D-Printed Replica Of A Legendary WWI Ship Makes Waves

Massive 3D-Printed Replica Of A Legendary WWI Ship Makes Waves

Nestled along the coast of Belgium is the mostly open-air Raversyde in Ostend with its bunkers, observation posts, and subterranean corridors. This museum is unique in that it commemorates sites that were instrumental in both world wars: in WWI as a coastal battle and during WWII as the site where Nazi Germany built the Atlantic Wall as a defense. For the museum’s opening weekend of the 2020 season, they prepared a new focal point in the exhibition of the First World War Coastal Battery. The highlight of the exhibit is a massive, highly detailed, 3D-printed model of the Mauretania that carried out different but essential functions during WWI.

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