At the World Trade Exhibition K 2016 on Wednesday, October 19, we found an interesting product, the silicone printer produced by Sterne Elastomers. Sterne Elastomers is a new silicone printer called SiO-Shaping 1601, based in Carvalho, France. The silicone material used in this new printer can be cured by 100% ultraviolet light.


SiO-Shaping 1601 printer combines both FDM and SLA technologies. At present, the thinnest layer that can be printed is 0.25mm. Anthony Pellafol, a material engineer at the company, said that with technological breakthroughs, it is expected to reduce the thickness to 0.1 mm next year. This machine has two advantages. First, the curing process is almost instantaneous, so it can print the product efficiently; second, the curing process is carried out at very low temperature, so precision electronic components (such as LED) can be safely embedded into the product.
Sterne is currently targeting their 3D UV-curable silicone printing products in the field of medical equipment. Silicone resin is a kind of biocompatible material, which can be well utilized in both long-term and short-term biological transplantation. Products that can be manufactured include catheters, feeding esophagus, scar treatment materials and so on. At present, 60% of all customers come from the medical field.