An automatic perfect polish solution for 3D printed removable partials and more

TEAMZIEREIS GmbH, a German company with a focus on dental products, has expanded its customer services with an innovative electropolishing system from AM Solutions–3D post processing technology.

By investing in the innovative dry electropolishing system DryLite, the TEAMZIEREIS milling center, specialized in dental products and job shop services, expands its service portfolio. The DLyte 10D system allows the automatic polishing of components produced with additive manufacturing and hybrid manufacturing. It is designed to place an excellent polished finish on removable partials, dental crowns and products for orthodontic treatments.

TEAMZIEREIS GmbH milling center General Manager Ralph Ziereis explains how he first learned about the dry electropolishing system: “A customer told us about the innovative DLyte polishing method. Subsequently we informed ourselves about this technology and its possibilities at the AM Solutions booth during the 2019 formnext show.”

Ziereis founded the company, located in Engelsbrand in the Black Forest region, 20 years ago. The company’s business focus is on dental products and services that are connected with the digital workflow. For this reason, TEAMZIEREIS has comprehensive know-how with CAD/CAM operations and pursues an integrated digital manufacturing concept.

Mechanical processing with consistent high-quality finishing results replaces costly manual polishing

Within the scope of its digital concept the company produces removable partials, dental crowns and components for orthodontic treatments, for example, filigreed wires, from cobalt chrome alloys with a powder based selective laser melting 3D printing system. After they were printed these components had to be manually polished. This costly operation usually took place in dental labs.

Among other 3D printed components the removable partials are polished with the dry electropolishing system. All must have a defined gloss; work piece geometry, dimensions and edges must not be affected. Instead of approx. 1 hour of manual polishing, now only approx. 30 minutes are needed. In addition, several parts can be processed simultaneously.

To relieve customers from this time consuming and expensive operation and to be able to offer another service, the company had been looking for a suitable mechanical polishing method and with the DryLyte technology they found it, Ziereis says. The system saves customers not only money and time, but it also produces absolutely repeatable, high-quality polishing results. By using the DLyte 10D processing time can be reduced by up to 80% compared to manual work, depending on the application, he says. Furthermore, several parts can be processed simultaneously.

Dry, non-abrasive electropolishing

This high performance electropolishing system, developed by the Spanish company GPAINNOVA, utilizes dry electrolyte granules instead of a liquid. During the polishing operation the work pieces, mounted to special fixtures, are passing through the electrolyte with a rotary movement. This causes an ion exchange between work piece and electrolyte with the result that the roughness peaks on the entire surface, including internal passages, are eliminated. Compared to the conventional electropolishing method the use of non-abrasive electrolyte granules maintains the original geometry, dimensions, edges and angles of the work pieces. This is said to guarantee a perfect fit.

Test trials ensure optimal finishing processes

A defined gloss, no change of the work piece geometry, dimensions and edges and, above all, a flawless surface finish, these were the results Ziereis demanded. AM Solutions–3D printing technology, a Rösler division specialized in post processing of 3D printed components and sales partner of GPAINNOVA, conducted initial test trials in its technology center. These trials quickly demonstrated that the DryLite system is absolutely suitable for the finishing tasks defined by TEAMZIEREIS.

The definition of the processing parameters for the different work pieces was determined by the composition and size of the electrolyte granules and the processing time. All programs can be stored in the equipment controls and called up by simply pushing a button.

For more information visit: ​ ​rosler.com. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​