Additive Manufacturing Meets LSR—A New Option for Flexible Small-Batch Production

Additive manufacturing has long been an integral part of modern production processes. It really shines when it comes to complex or customized components: tools can be produced more quickly, costs are reduced, and development cycles are significantly shortened. Additively manufactured, resin-based mold inserts offer enormous advantages, particularly in the product development of injection-molded parts and in small-batch production.

Until now, however, there was a clear hurdle: While thermoplastics are already successfully processed using additive tool inserts, this was not the case for liquid silicones (LSR). Companies that manufacture silicone components continued to rely on traditional molds, which was time-consuming and costly, especially when multiple iteration cycles were necessary.

The “ADDmold for LSR” research project is now changing that.

The project is investigating how additively manufactured mold inserts can be used in the future for processing liquid silicone as well. The goal is to develop an approach that makes the production of silicone components faster, more cost-effective, and more flexible—especially in early development phases or for small production runs using the original material. 

This approach offers great potential, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In the future, they could benefit from significantly shorter development times and respond much more quickly to individual customer requests. At the same time, additive manufacturing enables cost-effective production of the necessary molds, which offers decisive advantages—especially for small production runs or frequently changing product variants. In addition, potential product changes can be implemented easily, allowing SMEs to respond more flexibly and agilely to market demands overall.

Dr.-Ing. Ralf-Urs Giesen (UNIpace, University of Kassel) emphasizes the importance of this approach: “Thanks to this entirely new approach to silicone processing, existing companies that already work with silicones can benefit significantly from the advantages of additive manufacturing. The ability to produce tools quickly and cost-effectively will significantly boost this industry’s innovative capacity.”

Alexander Schulmann, Research Associate for Additive Manufacturing at SKZ, adds: “With this project, we are further expanding our expertise in the field of additively manufactured tools. We have already gained extensive experience with thermoplastics and now see great potential in revolutionizing the processing of liquid silicone in the same way.”

Companies are cordially invited to participate in the project committee free of charge. This will give them early insight into the results while also allowing them to contribute their own requirements and use cases.