Through its Tera 250 Micro AM technology, Nanofabrica has introduced a technology around which innovation and hitherto impossible manufacturing goals can be achieved. The Tera 250 introduces a process change which overcomes issues related to the reliance on legacy technologies when seeking to manufacture smaller and smaller parts while retaining sub-micron tolerances.
Nanofabrica’s technology is now used across industry for the fabrication of micro parts, and has rightly been praised for the array of complex, minute, and highly accurate parts that the Tera 250 has produced. However, recently the company produced a reproduction of a DNA helix that has astounded professionals from across industry, and which absolutely exemplifies the compelling nature of the Tera 250 for producing parts of mind-boggling size while achieving extremely exacting tolerances, part characteristics achieved by the AM process which until recently have been considered as impossible.
The DNA helix measures 925 microns in length, and includes tiny features which would be either impossible to manufacture via micro moulding, or would require the manufacture of hugely expensive micro tools.
Many companies attempting to manufacture at smaller and smaller scale confront problems, and are often forced to use technologies to manufacture at the micro-scale that are in fact scaled down versions of macro technologies. These are often over-engineered and large footprint technologies that are not an efficient solution in micro manufacturing scenarios.
Couple this with the fact that these scaled down macro moulding machines suffer from the side effects of residence time and material degradation common to all moulding processes, (but exacerbated at the micro scale), and use clamping forces and moulding pressures way in excess of what is necessary for micro moulding, and the demand for alternative technology solutions is obvious.
And this is where Nanofabrica’s Micro AM technology finds its niche. Through the use of the Tera 250, companies requiring miniature plastic parts and components can now efficiently, and cost-effectively shift to AM from conventional manufacturing processes. OEMs can therefore benefit from the inherent advantages that AM offers in terms of promoting part complexity with no increase in cost, eliminating the needs for expensive tooling, reducing part counts and the need for assembly, speeding product development time, easy revision of part design, mass customization, reduction in waste, and reduction in energy costs.
Through the unique combination of hardware, software, and material innovations, Nanofabrica’s Tera 250 is commercially available to be applied to even the most exacting micro manufacturing applications across industry, and manufacturers are invited to liaise with the company to discuss seemingly impossible applications which will stimulate innovation across industry.