Zortrax Forges a Partnership with AM-COE on a Ceramic 3D Printer

On July 18, 2023, a letter of intent was signed between Zortrax, and a British company specializing in the production of advanced resins, AM Centre of Excellence (AM-COE). The goal of this collaboration is to develop a 3D printer designed specifically for demanding, advanced ceramic resins. Zortrax, as the manufacturer of the solution, will supply AM-COE with the printers.

Developing a 3D Printer For Advanced Ceramic Resins

Zortrax has decided to work with AM-COE to develop and market a professional 3D printer for handling demanding ceramic resins, ActiveCera M. Zortrax has the necessary experience in developing high-quality 3D printers, automatic post-processing devices, a wide range of resins, as well as printing software to support resin 3D printing. AM-COE, in turn, owns professional research facilities and has the necessary capabilities to produce specialty resins.

The picture shows two ceramic resin 3D printers, coming from the first batch, tested by AM-COE at their facilities.

“The cooperation between Zortrax and AM-COE will allow us to develop an optimal solution for printing demanding ceramic resins. I am convinced that Zortrax engineers’ experience and skills in the development of resin 3D printers, peripheral devices, and printing software, combined with the relevant background of AM-COE, specializing in the production of ceramic resins, will lead to the release of a modern printer, tailored to the needs and requirements of both businesses and individual users producing ceramic parts.” – underlines Mariusz Babula, CEO at Zortrax.

Zortrax’s R&D team has been working with resin 3D printing daily for many years. Last year saw the premiere of a new comprehensive resin printing system, Zortrax Powerful Trio, which consists of the Zortrax Inkspire 2 resin 3D printer and two automatic resin post-processing devices – Zortrax Cleaning Station and Zortrax Curing Station. Numerous technical improvements introduced in the Powerful Trio, as well as collaborations with world leaders in the chemical industry, BASF Forward AM and Henkel/Loctite on the double validation of Zortrax machines and the expansion of the resin portfolio, have provided the experience that proves invaluable in the collaboration with AM-COE and the development of a new specialized printer designed to work with ceramic resins.

The ceramic resin 3D printer from the first batch was presented by AM-COE at Advanced Ceramic Show in Birmingham.

Zortrax and AM-COE’s Printer Suited for Mass Resin Manufacturing

“AM-COE is the biggest research and manufacturing centre on vat-photopolymerization of ceramic parts and components for aerospace, electronics, chemical, automotive, and other industries. In our strive for offering a mass manufacturing solution for 3D printed ceramics, we’ve partnered up with Zortrax to develop a versatile, fast, effective, and affordable ceramic 3D printer, like no other. ActiveCera M is an open-source solution with free software that assists researchers to develop material and ceramic printing processes, as well as manufacturers who are after a low-maintenance and easy-to-run ceramic printer for mass manufacturing.” – says Ehsan Sabet, CEO at AM-COE.

AM-COE has high-end research laboratories for resin production, and focuses mainly on designing light-cured materials, where 3D printing is mainly used for prototyping and mass production of casting patterns and ceramic cores.

The models, 3D printed with a specialized ceramic resin by AM-COE.

Within the partnership agreement with AM-COE, Zortrax will be responsible for manufacturing the printers with embedded firmware, and the implementation of dedicated Z-SUITE software, designed strictly for the preparation of ceramic resin models on the printer developed under the project. Moreover, Zortrax will be responsible for the printer’s warranty and ongoing updates to the firmware and software. AM-COE will provide consulting services for ceramic resin printing, distribute the new printer, and will be responsible for testing the software before each update, particularly to ensure that ceramic resins are printed correctly.

Learn more about Zortrax resin 3D printing solutions.