Stratasys Objet500 - Default Chapter; Welcome to Connex Printing

Objet500 User Guide 3 Introducing the Objet500 3D Printing System
DOC-07027 Rev.E 3-2
Welcome to Connex™ Printing
TheadvancedcapabilitiesofConnexprintingsystemsaremadepossibleby
technologyspeciallydevelopedbyStratasysforprintingmodels
simultaneouslywithdifferentmodelmaterials.Printingmodelswith
combinationsofbasicmaterials(digitalmaterials)enablesyoutochoosefrom
awiderangeofmechanicalproperties—fromflexibletorigid—andcolors.
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WithConnexprinters,youcanachievethefollowingresultswhenprinting3D
models:
•Youcanprepareobjectsforprintingwithtwoorthreedesignatedmodel
materialsandthenprintthematthesametime.Thisenablesyoutoassign
specificmechanicalandcolorpropertiestoobjects.
•Youcanprintpartsofthesamemodel—simultaneously—withdifferent
materials(ormaterialcombinations
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).
•Youcanprintobjectsthathavea“coating”madefromadifferentmaterial
thanthemainpartoftheobject.
BecauseConnexprinterscanbeloadedwithdifferentmaterials,youcan
streamlineandeconomizetheprocessofproducingmodels:
•Printingmodelsmadefromdifferentmaterialsonthesamebuildtray
(“mixedtray”),inthesameprintjob,eliminatesthetime-consumingneed
andexpenseofloadinganothermaterial,flushingthesystem,andsending
aseparatejobtobeprinted.
•Youcanquicklyalternateprintingjobsusinganyofthemodelmaterials
loaded(ormaterialcombinations)—again,withouttheneedandexpense
ofreplacingmaterials.
ObjetStudioenablesyoutosplitmodelsintocomponentparts(“shells”)so
youcanisolate,manipulateandprintpartsofamodel.Then,youcanassign
modelmaterialsandothercharacteristicstotheshells.However,youhave
ultimatecontrolwhenseparatingmodelsintoshellsbypreparingstlfileswith
yourCADsoftware.
ModeldesignssavedasVRMLfilescanbeopenedinObjetStudio.Whenyou
preparethemforprintingonConnex3printers,partsareassignedappropriate
materialcombinationstoproducethedesiredcolorsintheprintedmodel.
Figure3-1TheObjet5003DPrinter
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Connex2andConnex3configurationsonly