By Liz Stevens, writer, UV+EB Technology Advances in technology seem to be benefiting every human endeavor. In healthcare, innovations in additive manufacturing and material engineering are yielding valuable, demonstrable improvements that facilitate better medical training, better medical procedure pre-planning and better medical device design. A university research team in … [Read more...] about 3D-Printing Phantoms: Medical Anatomical Models Benefit from UV-Curable Coatings
2025 Quarter 1
Additive Manufacturing: Printing Area vs. Feature Size
In the preceding two columns, I reviewed the current state and future trajectory of the industry through the perspectives of the June 2024 Rapid+TCT Conference. Announcements in the fourth quarter of 2024 show the continuing trend of financial and organizational restructuring described in the prior columns, and this trend will continue in 2025. This column examines the … [Read more...] about Additive Manufacturing: Printing Area vs. Feature Size
Excimer and EB: A Different Approach to Gloss Control
EB and UV-curable inks and coatings can be formulated to produce a high-gloss appearance with relative ease, but when it comes to matte and soft-touch variations, especially those striving for ultra-low gloss units, challenges arise. One way to circumvent those challenges is to incorporate the use of excimer. What is matte? Shiny, high-gloss surfaces appear smooth to the … [Read more...] about Excimer and EB: A Different Approach to Gloss Control
Honey, Anything Interesting Happen at Work?
For better or worse, all days are interesting when it comes to UV applications and process control. We still enjoy the questions, learning and plethora of unknowns associated with a customer visit, training session, email or phone call. There are some interactions that fall into the “if we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane” category (Credit to Changes in Latitudes, Changes … [Read more...] about Honey, Anything Interesting Happen at Work?
Improving Manufacture Efficiency with Water-Based UV-Curable Polyurethanes in Wood Coatings
By Bob Wade and Mike Jeffries, Covestro High-performance UV-curable coatings have been used in the manufacture of flooring, furniture and cabinets for many years. For most of this time, 100% solids and solvent-based UV-curable coatings have been the dominant technology in this market, but in recent years, water-based UV-curable coatings have become a growing technology. … [Read more...] about Improving Manufacture Efficiency with Water-Based UV-Curable Polyurethanes in Wood Coatings