The Digital Thread

3D printing is making major inroads into customising medical implants for individuals. It allows implant manufacturers and sometimes even hospitals to create complex geometries and patient specific solutions that saves the surgeon time and improves a patient’s outcome.

Major dental work traditionally takes days of time and effort but as technology evolves even complex treatment is possible in just a few hours thanks to digital technology.

Rapid Prototyping for every stage of product development

Our new consultative design service addresses design feedback and gets your parts ready for manufacturability within our automated system.

The Aerospace industry in no stranger to innovation, but with challenges of the pandemic and ongoing needs to address carbon emissions it has been left with some difficult challenges. Reflecting on a Protolabs research project two years ago, how is the industry shaping up now?

While CNC Milling has been around for more than 50 years, the technology is moving on and recent advances see automation of the entire process, from design right through to finished part. Such advances make it a technology that is readily available to all, for high or low volume quantities, prototyping to final parts and with lead times of as short as a day.

As the world’s leading digital manufacturer, we have added Aluminium 5083-H111 (3.3547 or AlMg4.5Mn0.7) to our range of over 40 stocked metal and plastic materials for our fast turnaround CNC service. The material is widely used in extreme environments with its high magnesium content making it highly resistant to saltwater and industrial chemicals.

Having supported the sector for a number of years we are now officially recognised as a fully compliant and credible supplier to major businesses within the associated industries.

Protolabs’ new post-process ‘vapour smoothing’ – a first for European digital manufacturing – has developed additive manufacturing further. It enables parts 3D printed from the commonly used material PA-12 and the elastic TPU-01 to be 3D printed with a smooth surface finish similar to that produced by injection moulding.

Learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of Injection moulding and how to help minimise moulding costs

Light weight and strength help aluminium and titanium excel for 3D-printed and machined parts.

Tensile strength testing for 3D printing materials determines how a material will behave under load.