DEVELOPMENT OF MATERIAL FOR OPTOFORM PROCESS.

Optoform LLC developed a technology to process paste compositions based upon photo-curable resins and fillers. This new process is called by Optoform LLC : the direct composite manufacturing. At the present time, about ten alpha machines have been sold in USA and Europe to set up a collaboration between material developers, process developers and end users. This technique is quite flexible and allows the development of very different materials (from soft to hard material) for many different applications. A screening study has been undertaken on a set of various resins, photoinitiators, dispersing agent and fillers. This paper is an overview of the use limitation and the advantages of materials developed by the CRIF or by other teams. Materials requiring or not a post-processing step have been developed. The limits or restrictions of use of these materials have been studied in order to meet the requirements and needs of various industrial sectors in the United States and in Europe (e.g. car racing, aerospace and aeronautical sectors, tooling industries, ... ).