Nexa3D has announced the commercial availability of its new ultrafast Quantum Laser Sintering platform, the QLS 820. Nexa3D is the maker of ultrafast professional and industrial polymer 3D printers.

Most importantly, the QLS 820 thermoplastic 3D printer has the highest throughput in its class. In addition, the company designed from the ground up for higher volume production and higher temperature processing for greater material selection.

The company showcases its new QLS 820 production platform at the ongoing IMTS 2022 – Additive Manufacturing Pavilion, Booth 432504.

“My hat is off to our entire team of determined innovators, passionate engineers, and experienced marketers for bringing to market an industry leading thermoplastic production platform that fully delivers on our ultrafast brand promise,” said Avi Reichental, co-founder, and CEO, Nexa3D.

In addition, Reichental added, “We founded Nexa3D with a sole purpose in mind; to digitize supply chain sustainably by making the world’s fastest polymer 3D printers affordable for professionals and businesses of all sizes.”

Quantum Laser Sintering

QLS 820 represents a new class of powder bed technology that combines ultrafast printing with open materials and cloud software platform to deliver production volumes that are orders of magnitude greater than other powder-bed solutions on the market.

At the core of the QLS 820 is Nexa3D’s powerful Quantum Laser Sintering (QLS) print engine consisting of four CO₂ lasers with 100W power each that deliver 4x the print speed of other laser sintering and powder bed fusion technologies. The QLS 820 features, exchangeable build station that operators can use for continuous production during the cooldown process, eliminating production bottlenecks and increasing throughput and over all asset utilization. The entire system is automation ready and designed for 24/7 lights-out operation.

Furthermore, the QLS 820 delivers a polymer-based production alternative to traditional injection molding without the design constraints, costly tooling investments and extended lead-times. The platform works with standard materials such as PA11 and PA12 — direct replacements for injection molding grade materials, and is also compatible with higher-temperature materials, such as PA6, at processing temperatures up to 240 degrees Celsius.

Unmatched Throughput

The quad-laser QLS 820 offers print speeds of up to 8L per hour and average packing density of 20 percent, delivering up to 4x productivity gains over other powder-based polymer 3D printing systems. Coupled with its large build volume of 350 x 350 x 400mm, 50–200-micron Z resolution, and four 100W CO2 lasers, it is the most powerful thermoplastic additive production solution on the market. With the printer’s removable build unit, the QLS 820 is designed for maximum uptime. In a simple switch, users can begin the breakout process and a new build unit can dock with the printer to start printing

Automation-ready, Open Platform

The system offers an open and automation-ready platform that is technology-agnostic and adaptable to integrations ranging from MES and ES systems to modular post-processing solutions. The QLS Command Center is a large touchscreen control station, powered by NexaX software, enabling fleet management, print preparation, and real-time printer status and print performance all from a single centralized location. NexaX for QLS also provides more flexibility and ease of use with remote access to QLS systems. A printer fleet can be accessed via the Command Center, a computer, or a mobile device.

High Temp Processing

A wide-use temperature range, inert processing atmosphere, and an open-source platform allows for printing of many materials including PA 12, PA 11, Polypropylene, PBT, as well as aluminum, glass, and fiber-filled plastics. PA 12 is commercially available at launch, with PA 11, Filled PA 12, and PBT available in Q4 2022.

Manufacturing Network Program

The QLS 820 Manufacturing Network Program has launched and the world’s leading on-demand manufacturing service provider, Quickparts, has signed on as the foundational partner. “We are thrilled to be the first on-demand manufacturing service provider to experience the benefits of higher throughput, thermoplastic additive manufacturing. We pride ourselves on offering quick turn manufacturing services to our customers and look forward to introducing an even faster and more efficient production of higher volume thermoplastic components with the QLS 820,” said Ziad Abou, Chief Executive Officer, Quickparts.

In addition, JawsTec, an additive and subtractive manufacturing service provider has also signed up to be a foundational partner, taking ownership of its QLS 820 later this year. We see the potential of the QLS 820 system to dramatically accelerate the throughput we’re able to achieve for higher volume runs for our customers. We’re very excited about the new applications and customer requirements we will be able to meet with this new additive production system,” said Oscar Klassen, Chief Executive Officer, JawsTec.

Nexa3D is continuing to expand its manufacturing network and is looking to partner with other 3D printing service providers and low volume injection molders looking to simplify and digitize their supply chain, optimize capacity utilization, and improve the economics of higher volume production.