EOS launches Digital Foam for 3D Printed Foam Applications

The foam industry has been slow to adopt 3D printing, however this is changing. To produce parts that are more comfortable, safer, lighter and can be customized for each customer, this sector is turning to additive manufacturing. Having identified this need, and to simplify bringing foam-to-market, EOS is launching its Digital Foam program – a hub created by EOS to connect CAD, materials, part qualification and additive manufacturing.

In other words, rather than customers needing to solve these variables by themselves, Digital Foam will take care of this. It will give customers a fast-track to producing 3D printed protective headgear, individualized orthotics, or performance footwear, among dozens of other applications. In fact, during the last 80 years the foam industry has not evolved too much. Foam is used in many products, from comfort foam, which you’ll find in insoles or protective foam, which you’ll find in headgear, applications are wide-ranging. Foam is considered to be directly related to performance. Historically, the process is far from easy, it requires complex engineering and long cycle times to fully unlock its value.

3D printed bicycle helmet | image via HERX

Using highly flexible polymer materials, like TPU or PEBA, 3D printing foam allows unprecedented fine-tuning of each voxel for superior comfort, safety, and performance characteristics. “The level of engineering required to produce, say, a safer football helmet is massive, but the benefits are equally massive for end users,” said Dr. Greg Hayes, senior vice president of applied engineering at EOS North America. “The Digital Foam program was designed to make those huge improvements much easier and less time-consuming for organizations.”