Foamable acrylic based ink for the production of light weight parts by inkjet-based 3D printing

Abstract Foamable inks for inkjet-based 3D printing processes, like PolyJet TM printing, open the way to produce light-weight additive manufactured parts in one process step. A new ink formulation, consisting of acrylic components and a modified blowing agent is presented. The goal is to directly produce foam during the printing process in contrast to other methods for 3D printing of foams, which are currently used. The presented characterization of the ink is focused on viscosity, decomposition temperatures of the blowing agents, and UV–polymerization of the ink matrix. More advanced ink characterization includes jetting tests at different inkjet–printheads and foaming of printed layers, as well as microscopic characterization of the foams.