FreeFoam

2022: Foam announcement for 3D printing of car seats and shoes

At the end of June 2022, Desktop Metal introduced a new type of foam for 3D printing of car seats and shoes. The technology is called FreeFoam. Desktop Metal's main customers include auto giants BMW and Toyota Motor, as well as space company SpaceX.

3D-printed foam can be heated and expanded later on demand in a furnace near the end use or assembly site, which will help manufacturers localize production processes as well as save on delivery and warehouse costs.

New type of foam for 3D printing of car seats and shoes released

3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a technology that allows complex shapes to be created in layers from plastic or metal particles. The US sees it as an innovation that will allow American manufacturers to thrive and create jobs starting in 2023.

{{quote 'Traditional foam production has many problems and in production for June 2022 uses molds that limit the design, and conventional foam products are dense and heavy, making them bulky for efficient transportation. FreeFoam allows manufacturers to print 3D foam structures of the exact shape and strength they want, but much easier, said Rick Fulop, founder and CEO of Desktop Metal. }}

A number of the European partners have already run systems in beta, including BMW, Milan Polytechnic University, Center for Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Spain Sheffield University, Scottish engineering company Weir Group and other enterprises and institutions. The main drawback of the technology is the need, even at the stage of preparing digital models, to compensate for high shrinkage, reaching 20%, but this moment was taken into account by the developers, and scaling, coupled with the construction of optimal baselines, is carried out automatically.^[1]

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