Sheffield, England-based Fyous Products unveiled an infinitely reusable molding technology said to automatically shape-shift in 20 minutes to produce usable parts 14 times faster than 3D printing.
Called PolyMorphic, the technology features more than 28,000 densely packed pins that create the mold. Once the pins are in position, the mold can withstand 6 metric tons of distributed pressure.
Fyous software generates the PolyMorphic mold shape with a 3D computer-aided design model. The patent-pending PolyMorphic machine then "shape-shifts" the mold to create the intended product. After production, the PolyMorphic mold is returned to the machine, ready for the next shape-shift.
The technology, which produces zero waste, could disrupt prototyping and transform the manufacturing landscape for molding and casting, vacuum forming and composite lay-ups, according to Joshua Shires and Thomas Bloomfield, co-founders of PolyMorphic in 2020.
Shires and Bloomfield initially targeted PolyMorphic technology at creating custom footwear for athletes then recognized the broader potential for medical and other industrial uses.
"Our mission is to deliver a revolutionary molding technology that will disrupt prototyping and manufacturing sectors worldwide," Shires said in a news release. "Using PolyMorphic molding to rapidly create accurate molds for tooling will reduce time to market for a huge array of products, plus unlock commercial viability for desirable products which currently have no cost-effective manufacture method."
The versatility of PolyMorphic enables almost limitless applications and can generate products up to 14 times faster than conventional 3D printing methods, Bloomfield added.
"Much like when 3D printing was developed, the applications it could potentially be used for was unknown by its inventors," he said. "The Fyous team is now undertaking this period of discovery with PolyMorphic molding, uncovering potential applications for this technology at an exponential rate."
PolyMorphic molding will be launched at the RAPID + TCT trade show from June 25-27 at the Los Angeles Convention Center at stand 2763.