Norck, a leading digital manufacturing company, provides extremely reliable, top quality, and fast plastic 3D printing services for a wide range of industries including aerospace, defense, robotics,  industrial, automotive, electronics, energy, hardware, and consumer products. Our team of highly qualified engineers and cutting-edge facilities will provide you with quality products with the quickest turnaround time at a competitive price. Whether you have high volume production projects or rapid prototyping needs, Norck can manage it with the results better than expectations.

Click here to get a quote for your next plastic 3D printing services projects.

Let’s now give you some insight how Norck achieves plastic 3D printing services.

Plastic 3D printing is an additive manufacturing process that uses plastic materials to produce parts and assemblies. It helps turn designs into scaled prototypes as close to the designed model. It is mainly used in the earliest stages of product development and can be used in conceptual models, functional prototypes, tooling, electronics, jewelry, and medical industries.

3D printing requires 3D CAD models to print a part or assembly. The 3D models can be made using parametric CAD software such as Solidworks and CATIA V5, or Subdivision modeling software such as 3DS and Blender.

- Plastic 3D printing is used over metallic 3D printing processes due to:
   •    Most cost-effective
   •    Various plastic and elastomeric materials can be used

- Although there are dis advantages to using plastic 3D printing:
   •    Weaker results compared to metallic 3D printing

The 3D printer slices the 3D model into several cross sections and prints them layer by layer. At Norck, we offer the following 3D printing methods for plastic parts/assemblies:

1. Fused deposition modeling (FDM): FDM is the most popular and most cost-effective of the 3D printing processes. It uses a filament of a thermoplastic material such as PLA and ABS. The filament passes through a hot nozzle that melts it, and using a computer-controlled system, the nozzle moves along two axes and deposits the melted material on a platform. When a whole layer of the desired shape is deposited, the nozzle moves up to deposit the next layer. Once the 3D printed model is finished, it can be removed from the platform. Post-processing might be required to remove any excess material and burrs or to smooth surfaces.
- Most used materials:
   •    Polylactic acid (PLA)
   •    Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)
   •    Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
   •    Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)
   •    Poly-ether-ketone (PEEK)
   •    Polyphenylsulfone (PPSU)

2. HP Multi Jet Fusion: It is a 3D printing method invented by Hewlett-Packard. In HP multi-fusion jet, the 3D printer slices the 3D model into several cross sections and prints them layer by layer. Each layer of powder material is deposited upon a print bed by a material depositing unit. Then a thermal unit moves across the print bed to deposit a fusing agent and detailing agent. The fusing agent is deposited where powder particles should fuse, and the detailing agent is applied to the contour to help cool the part. The thermal units also contain infrared light to merge the particles and form the desired shape.
Once the 3D printed model is finished, it should cool down before being removed from the platform. Post-processing might be required to remove any excess material and burrs or to smooth surfaces.
- Most used materials:
   •    PA 11
   •    PA 12
   •    PA 12 40% GF
   •    PP

3. Selective laser sintering (SLS): It uses a laser to sinter a bed of powder-based materialsto turn the powder into solid products. Materials used in SLS are more fragile than those used in FDM or SLA. Printed models can be finished using sanding, polishing, or spray coating. SLA parts have higher accuracy and smoother surfaces than SLS and FDM.
- Most used materials:
   •    PA 11
   •    PA 12
   •    PA GF
   •    PA FR
   •    Ceramics
   •    Glass

4. Stereolithography (SLA): SLA 3D printing uses a bath of UV-sensitive liquid resin and an ultraviolet laser beam to solidify the liquid layer by layer. The laser beam is computer controlled. The solid layer is pulled up, and the next layer is processed. Once the 3D printed model is finished, it can be removed from the platform and submerged in isopropyl alcohol to remove any excessive resin. Then the model gets exposed to passive UV light. SLA models are less rigid than FDM printed models.
- Most used materials:
   •    Polycarbonate-like Resin
   •    Polupropylene-like resin

5. Polyjet: The polyjet process is similar to inkjet printing. It jets drops of liquid photopolymer onto a printing bed. Next, UV light is used to solidify the deposited layer of photopolymer. Generally, no post-processing is required.
- Most used materials:
   •    Polycarbonate-like Resin
   •    Polupropylene-like resin
   •    Rubber-like resin

6. Carbon DLS: Carbon Digital Light Synthesis is a 3D printing process that uses a UV-sensitive resin to produce the desired model. In this process, a light source is used to project UV cross sections of a 3D model on a window, which transforms the resin.
- Most used materials:
   •    Elastomeric resin
   •    Flexible resin
   •    Rigid resin
   •    Silicone
   •    Cyanate ester
   •    Urethane Methacrylate
   •    Epoxy
   •    Medical ABS-like

7. Vapor smoothing: It is a post-process for 3D printed parts with a coarse surface finish to smooth and enhance their mechanical and visual aspects. Vapor smoothing uses chemical vapor solvents to smooth the 3D-printed part by melting the surface.
- It is used with most polymers and elastomers, such as:
   •    ABS
   •    PP
   •    PC
   •    PLA
   •    PETG
   •    PA 12
   •    ASA

Parts and assemblies should follow specific design rules to be printed correctly. Norck offers engineering services that will help you confirm your design for 3D printing.

Norck, a leading manufacturing company driven by technology, high quality data and artificial intelligence, focuses on manufacturing excellent quality of sheet metal parts, custom parts and components, a wide range of 3D printed parts and moldings. It is a single source for a wide of range of companies around the world for their need of sheet metal fabrication, CNC machining, 3D printing, and molding. 

Besides its own production capacity, Norck’s ability access to a huge amount of manufacturing capacity of its top quality partners across Europe and the U.S allows it to provide its customers with low and high volume production, rapid prototyping and a wide range of manufacturing services from sheet metal fabrication to 3D printing.

Norck’s data-driven AI approach to manufacturing maximizes its overall product and service quality, while minimizing the overall cost of its parts and services. This leads to high quality products, better inventory programs for our customers worldwide, better visibility for supply chain management.

Norck’s team of manufacturing engineers, mechnical engineers, quality engineers, supply chain engineers, industrial designers, artificial intelligence engineers, data scientists, and software application developers work in a unique and coherent way to provide your company with high quality manufacturing parts and services, better design for manufacturability and all driven by data and artificial intelligence.

As a single source for all your manufacturing needs, Norck minimizes your overhead cost, diversifies your supply chain, improves your parts’ design for manufacturability, significantly improves the quality of services and parts you outsource, minimizes suppliers’ risks, improves your purchasing power, and provides the goods and services with a philosophy of just in time.