The company plans to develop its Red Series Additive Fusion Solution technology which makes carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) composite parts.
According to the company, the technology makes it possible to produce desktop size CFRTP structural parts in in production volumes ranging from 100 to over 100,000 parts/year. It combines software, 3D printing, and compression molding in matched metal dies and can offer faster cycle times, higher production rates, and improved repeatability and reproducibility, 9T says.
“[9T Labs’] Additive Fusion Technology leverages the benefits of printing, automated tape laying, and compression molding to deliver fully dense parts with multidirectional reinforcement,” said Adam Pawloski, VP of Stratasys, which invested in the company. “Moreover, this technology scales to the volumes of production parts needed by serial manufacturers.”
“As a leading supplier of thermoplastic composites technologies, we are excited to contribute our materials expertise to help accelerate 9T Labs’ developments in the 3D printing space to produce structural composite parts,” said Fabrizio Ponte, head of thermoplastic composites platform at Solvay, which also invested.
Following the investment, John Hartner, former CEO of ExOne will join 9T Labs’ board of director as chairman.
