Composites typically comprise a core polymer material and a reinforcing material, like chopped or continuous fibre. The composite material offers higher strength and stiffness compared to non-reinforced polymers. In some cases, it can even replace metals like aluminium.
Composite material comprises of a blend of two or more printing material. In the context of 3D printing, a composite material consists of materials that have been reinforced with fibre. The latest printers from Stratasys, the F190™CR and F370®CR FDM® Composite Printers, introduced under the F123 CR Series, augment machining by harnessing the strength of carbon and the durability of engineering-grade thermoplastics. The F123CR series printers are based on FDM technology, and supplement traditional fabrication technologies like workholding fixtures, soft jaws, and component parts, allowing industrial manufacturers to replace metal components with high-strength 3D printed composite parts. This combination of the right composites increases speed, accelerates throughput and offers significant cost benefits.
High Strength Composite Printing
The F123CR printers use ABS-CF10 and FDM® Nylon-CF10 composite materials, both reinforced with chopped carbon fibre, 10% by weight for strength and stiffness. F123CR soluble support material enables complex designs that cannot be made with conventional machining or other 3D printers that don’t have this capability. Four layer resolutions give users flexibility on part quality and print speed. Variable part density gives them the freedom to make fully-dense, solid parts or adjust the infill to save weight and material use.
Reliability of F123 Series
The F123CR composite printers are built on the same platform as the proven F123 Series, with a verified 99% uptime and a 99% dimensional repeatability performance.* Material tuning – optimizing print parameters using over 220 measurements – ensures consistent material performance across all resolutions and successful print results.
* Stratasys 2020 Repeatability and Reliability study for F370, Fortus 450mc and F900 printers.
Simple to Use and Versatile
The GrabCAD Print software from Stratasys provides a simple and intuitive CAD-to-print workflow and includes advanced features to ensure successful prints. The F123CR printers uses GrabCAD to simply set up a job by importing the part’s CAD file using GrabCAD Print™ software and initiating the print. It is as simple as that - no more supervision is needed until the job is completed. And the F123CR printers (F190™CR and F370®CR FDM®) offer application versatility by operating with a range of thermoplastic materials. This multi-material capability offers the convenience of printing different jobs in different materials. There’s no need for separate printers dedicated to composite and non-composite materials, saving manufacturers printing cost.
Applications of F190™CR and F370®CR FDM® Printers
F190CR and F370CR Printer and Material Specifications
| System Size/Weight | 1626 x 864 x 711 mm (64 x 34 x 28 in.) 500 lbs ( 227 Kg) |
| Build Tray Dimensions | F190CR: 305 mm x 254 mm x 305 mm (12 x 10 x 12 in.)
F370CR: 355 mm x 254 mm x 355 mm (14 x 10 x 14 in.) |
| Material Delivery | F190CR: 2 material spool bays, 1 for model, 1 for support located in a drawer on the
front of the unit
F370CR: 4 material spool bays, 2 for model, 2 for support located in a drawer on the front of the unit |
| Achievable Accuracy | Parts are produced within an accuracy of +/- .200 mm (.008 in), or +/- .002 mm/mm (.002 in/in), whichever is greater |
| Network Connectivity | Wired: TCP/IP protocols at 100 Mbps minimum 100 base T, Ethernet protocol, RJ45 connector
Wireless-ready: IEEE 802.11n, g, or b; Authentication: WPA2-PSK, 802.1x EAP Encryption: CCMP, TKIP |
| Operator Attendance | Limited attendance for job start and stop required |
| Software | F190CR: GrabCAD Print software, MTConnect enabled
F370CR: GrabCAD Print and Insight software, MTConnect enabled |
| Operating Environment | Operating: Temperature: 15 – 30 ºC (59 – 86 ºF), Humidity: 30 – 70% RH
Storage: Temperature: 0 – 35 ºC (32 – 95 ºF), Humidity: 20 – 90% RH |
| Power Requirements | 100-132V/15A or 200–240V/7A. 50/60 Hz |
| Regulatory Compliance | CE (low-voltage and EMC directive), FCC, EAC, cTUVus, FCC, KC, RoHs, WEEE, Reach, RCM |
| Operating System | Windows 10 (64 bit only) and Window 11 with a minimum of 4GB RAM (8GB or more recommended) |
| Materials | F190CR: ABS-M30, ASA, FDM ® TPU 92A, ABS-CF10, FDM Nylon-CF10
F370CR: ABS-M30, ASA, FDM TPU 92A, ABS-ESD7™, PC-ABS™, Diran™ 410MF07, ABS-CF10, FDM Nylon-CF10 |
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