For the clamp halves, the team selected an innovative, flame-retardant material from Henkel that could meet the Air Force’s stringent flight requirements and had passed UL 94 V-0 (burning stops within 10 seconds). LOCTITE® 3955, a flame, smoke, toxicity (FST) rated photopolymer material, is flame-retardant, extremely chemically resistant and can also handle wide low and high temperature ranges. LOCTITE 3955 avoids the stress relaxation behavior inherent in thermoplastic materials.
The team used advanced software on the Origin One to print in two different materials, the stiff, flame retardant material and a flexible elastomer, LOCTITE IND402, which acted as a tether to connect the two clamp halves. This simplified downstream assembly for the aircraft technicians, making it easier to install the clamps in the field. Each assembly was serialized during print for part inventory, traceability, and part provenance.
Using the Origin One platform reduces the high cost of tooling for low-volume or custom production and provides the flexibility to change part designs quickly and cost-effectively. Quality can be kept high, and costs can be brought down. For this application, Stratasys Origin One is capable of producing 54 clamp halves in 24 minutes. 1,296 clamp halves can be printed using one printer in a single day. Post-processing a printed batch can be completed in roughly 20 minutes.