.MGX Design Products

.MGX by Materialise works with innovative 3D printing techniques and some of the top designers, architects and artists from around the world to produce architectural models, art pieces and other custom projects, as well as a range of exceptional lighting objects, furniture, and accessories – all with a degree of detail, complexity and speed that cannot be offered by other production techniques.

For those unfamiliar with this technology, 3D printing, also known as additive layered fabrication (ALF) or rapid prototyping, involves a three-dimensional image that is literally “printed” as a 3D object. Objects can be created in one piece, without seams or joints and without the use of moulds, but with the most astounding levels of intricacy and functionality. There are a variety of different types of 3D printing techniques, the most popular include: stereolithography, selective laser sintering, and fused deposition modeling.

In the case of stereolithography, the process takes place in a large tank, and begins when a layer of liquid polymer is spread over a platform. A laser beam is then directed into the liquid, (guided by the design file and the .MGX software), solidifying the areas it comes in contact with. Once the laser is finished, the platform with the solid areas resting on it, shifts down, and the process begins again: liquid is spread; a laser beam hardens specific points in the liquid; and the platform and completed layers of the object move down. In this way, layer by layer, an object is “drawn” in the liquid by the beam, with the layers being consolidated throughout the process. When the object is complete, it is raised out of the tank via the supporting platform – much like a submarine rising to the surface of the water – with the excess liquid flowing away.

In the case of selective laser sintering, the process is similar but with a few differences, the primary one being that powder is used in place of the liquid polymer. The end result however is the same: creations are brought to life that would be impossible to produce with other manufacturing methods.