Solid Concepts Inc. Brochure

Prototypes
LowVolumeProduction
ProductionParts
TECHNOLOGIES
•STEREOLITHOGRAPHY(SLA ® )
•POLYJET
•Z-CORP ® 3DCOLORPRINTS
•SELECTIVELASERSINTERING(SLS ® )
•DIRECTMETALLASERSINTERING(DMLS ® )
•FUSEDDEPOSITIONMODELING(FDM ® )
•CNCMACHINING
•CASTURETHANES
•COMPOSITES
•TOOLING
•MOLDING
RAPID PRODUCT
DEVELOPMENT
SolidConceptsInc.
Built on a firm foundation of integrity, Solid Concepts is
the largest dedicated service provider of rapid prototyping,
direct digital manufacturing, tooling and injection molding in
North America. Solid Concepts is a seven-facility company
with project management and engineering expertise.
Prototyping and low-volume production of plastic and metal
components directly from design data is easily achieved
with our broad selection of technologies and materials.
Additional capabilities in tooling and injection molding make
Solid Concepts your one-stop source to bring your concept
from prototype to finished product ready for market.
YOUR CAD DESIGN

InnovativeExpertise
Solid Concepts is set apart by the caliber of our
professionals. The employees of Solid Concepts
are listed on more than two dozen rapid prototyping
patents and represent one of the most extensive
industry knowledge bases in the world. Our team is
composed of the best and brightest manufacturing
professionals, designers, engineers and artists.
In fact, many key players at Solid Concepts were
integral to the inception of additive manufacturing.
Since we helped invent rapid prototyping, it’s no
surprise that we’re constantly reinventing it with
custom machine upgrades, advanced material
development and sophisticated software.
Capacity
Capacity is critical when your project is up against
a deadline. Seven U.S. facilities with state-of-the-art
machinery gives us the capability of putting your project
on the right machines to give you a quality product
on time. Whether you need one intricately detailed
model or thousands of production-level parts, we are
confident we can meet your most demanding deadline.
“I tried many other SLA/SLS/rapid turn prototype firms over
the years and never found one that could match the overall
service of Solid Concepts. At this point I do not bother to
even quote from any other company.”
– S.F., El Cerrito, CA
PROTOTYPES AND PRODUCTION PARTS
OUR MANUFACTURING PROCESSES
solidconcepts.com

TECHNOLOGIES IN THE
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT CYCLE
CONCEPTS
DESIGN&ENGINEERING PROTOTYPE LIMITED
PRODUCTION
TOOLING&INJECTIONMOL
COMPOSITES
CASTURETHANES
CNCMACHINING
DIRECTMETALLASERSINTERING(DMLS ® )
SELECTIVELASERSINTERING(SLS ® )
FUSEDDEPOSITIONMODELING(FDM ® )
QUICKCASTPATTERNS(SLA ® )
STEREOLITHOGRAPHY(SLA ® )
POLYJET
Z-CORP ® 3DPRINTS
FOAM/MODELINGBOARD(CNC)
QUALITY
Award-WinningQualityBehindEveryPart
As one of the only service bureaus with a dedicated
Quality Department, Solid Concepts consistently
delivers high quality parts at affordable prices. We meet
ITAR security regulations, and carry both ISO 9001 (Austin
TX, Poway CA, Troy MI, Tucson AZ, Valencia CA) and
AS9100:2009 (Austin TX, Valencia CA) certifications.
Solid Concepts is committed to customer satisfaction,
consistently meeting or exceeding our customers’
requirements, and we continually improve our Quality
Systems. Each part undergoes quality inspections during
the incoming, in-process and final production stages.
We have the ability to test both destructively and nondestructively,
as well as the ability to perform AS9102 FAI’s
utilizing CMM technology. Our dedication to high quality
parts has allowed us to be awarded with the Boeing Double
Gold Supplier and Northrop Grumman Platinum Awards.

DING
FULLSCALE
PRODUCTION
The Area-I PTERA UAV
SLS technology with NyTek 1200 CF was utilized to create various
aerodynamic control surfaces including ailerons and flaps. The 7 gallon
fuel tank was grown from Nylon 12 PA and featured IFT coating. Additive
manufacturing helped Area-I realize numerous benefits unique to these
technologies including lightweight integrated structures.
ISO 9001 Certification:
Austin TX, Poway CA,
Troy MI, Tuscon AZ,
Valencia CA
AS9100:2009 Certification:
Austin TX, Valencia CA
As part of our commitment to quality and customer
service we solicit feedback on each order. Historically,
we’ve received all positive responses in over 96% of
our surveys. More importantly, this customer feedback
is used to guide our Continuous Process Improvement
programs which include 5S, Lean and Kaizen.
ProcessManufacturingEngineers
In addition to our Project Engineers, we also have
a dedicated Process Manufacturing Department to
add supplemental support for all your manufacturing
and production requirements. These engineers
work directly on the manufacturing floor to ensure
we effectively meet our customers’ needs.
solidconcepts.com

FUNCTIONAL PARTS
Mission Motors relies on Solid Concepts to create parts
and accelerate design cycles for both prototype and rapidmanufactured
components. The front sub-frame and
dashboard were created as a single part made out of SLS
glass-filled nylon. Additive manufacturing was also used
for various prototypes for fit, form and functional analysis
as well as testing and trials. Solid Concepts has become
an integral part of the Mission Motors supply chain.
solidconcepts.com

When MIT and NASA project teams
needed vaned disk models for wind
tunnel testing to validate a “swirl tube”
concept, they turned to Solid Concepts’
SLA technology to produce the parts.
SLA ®
Stereolithography
SLA is an accurate layer additive
manufacturing process, well suited for visual
aids, master patterns and form and fit studies.
Various photopolymer resins and three SLA
processes are available: Standard SLA, SLA
Premium and HDSL. SLA is typically the
most cost effective additive manufacturing
technology for large prototype parts.
PolyJet
PolyJet is a fast additive
manufacturing technology used to
develop high precision prototypes,
appearance models and master
patterns. It’s ideal for smaller parts
requiring accurate fine detail. A number
of flexible and rigid plastic materials
are available with PolyJet. Build
styles include PolyJet Standard for
economical prototypes and PolyJet HD
for exceptional detail and surface finish.
3D Color Prints
with Z-Corp ®
Z-Corp 3D Color Prints offers
a fast and inexpensive solution
for simple colored prototypes.
Parts are created with powdered
plaster material coupled with a
4-color printing process that is
printed directly into the part.
QuickCast ®
Investment Casting Patterns
ID-Light
Lightweight Models
Solid Concepts has developed
a unique build style and custom
material for creating nextgeneration
investment casting
patterns. Solid Concepts’ QuickCast
patterns are 10-35% lighter than
traditional patterns, and assure
accuracy and optimum casting yield.
ID-Light, offered only by Solid Concepts, produces
parts that are significantly lighter (up to 1/12th the
weight) and build faster than solid parts. ID-Light
utilizes a proprietary build style such that a hard
outer shell encases an inner scaffolding-type
structure. Two ID-Light options are available,
ID-Light/ SLA for large appearance models and
ID-Light/ FDM for strong, lightweight parts.
“This was the first time we tried ID-Light for our entire product mock-up and it
worked beautifully. Once again, Solid Concepts proved to be an irreplaceable
business partner for us. We’ll be back!”
- D.B., Wilsonville, OR
With a layer thickness as small as 16
microns (.0006”), PolyJet is ideal for
producing highly detailed prototypes.

Part cosmetically finished
with hand sanding, primer
and color matched paint.
SLS ®
Selective Laser Sintering
DMLS ®
Direct Metal Laser Sintering
FDM ®
Fused Deposition Modeling
SLS utilizes Nylon 11 and Nylon 12
materials along with property enhancing
fillers to produce rugged prototypes
and production parts. SLS parts are
lightweight, heat and chemical resistant,
accurate and durable, making them
suitable for a wide range of industries.
Since SLS does not require support
structures during the build process,
designs previously thought impossible
are now being manufactured with SLS.
DMLS uses metal and alloy materials
to accurately and rapidly produce
prototype and end-use parts. This
technology is excellent at reproducing
fine detail and is ideal for smaller
prototypes, high-temperature
applications, aerospace components
and custom medical and dental parts.
FDM is a highly accurate additive
manufacturing process that uses
production-grade thermoplastic
materials such as ABS, polycarbonate
and Ultem. FDM is often used for
functional prototypes, to create
small quantities of production
parts or to simulate end-use
parts before actual production.
High Temperature
Laser Sintering
Solid Concepts is the first service provider
in North America to offer High Temperature
Laser Sintering. What sets this technology
apart from traditional SLS is the elevated
temperatures required during the build
process and improved characteristics
of resulting products. This technology
is available with the world’s first true
high-performance polymer - PEEK.
PEEK material was used to create
this aerospace hot air mixer due to
its ability to withstand intense heat.
solidconcepts.com

Both flexible and rigid advanced
formula polymer materials were used
to create this over-molded face mask.
CNC
Using state-of-the-art CNC software and
equipment, Solid Concepts can quickly
machine parts from virtually any engineering
material. CNC prototypes, parts and master
patterns are ideal in applications where
the material property or size makes other
manufacturing techniques unsuitable.
QuantumCast Cast Urethanes
were used to create Xoran medical
carts when the limited number of
units needed didn’t justify the cost
of hard tooling.
Advanced
Cast Urethanes
Solid Concepts’ cast urethane processes yield void-free, strong and
stable pre-production and short-run production components.
QuantumCast
QuantumCast is a proprietary
technology that applies vacuum, heat
and pressure to process advanced
formula polymers. This low-pressure
injection molding into reinforced
soft tools combines the benefits of
platinum silicone molds (speed and
versatility) with exceptional mechanical
properties of our AFP materials.
CompressionCast Silicone
CompressionCast Silicone utilizes
a compression molding process with
flexible Silicone material. Silicone
parts are ideal for button and
keypad applications as well as
water resistant applications.
CompositeCast
A further advancement of our
QuantumCast cast urethane
technology, CompositeCast
produces stronger parts with high
impact strength by incorporating
composite materials in the cast part.
VolumeCast
VolumeCast produces longer runs
of large parts at a lower amortized
piece price by using various casting
and hybrid tooling techniques that
extend mold life and output.
RotationCast
Ideal for parts that are hollow or include
complex core geometry, RotationCast
combines our premium platinum silicone
molds on a multi-axis casting platform
with standard QuantumCast materials.

Our reputation for reliability is built
by consistently delivering composite
enclosures for a variety of industries.
Composites
Solid Concepts offers multiple
Composite tooling and production
processes for demanding real-life
applications. These advanced solutions
are well-suited for projects requiring high
strength or where large part size makes
other technologies unsuitable. Typical
applications include body panels,
large housings and cosmetic covers.
Fiberglass Panels
& Components
Solid Concepts provides wet lay-up
fiberglass components for prototype
and production projects. Parts are
extremely strong, tough and durable.
Suitable for large geometries not
requiring a cosmetic B side.
Carbon Fiber Panels
& Components
Tooling
Solid Concepts has the experience
and knowledge to create your hard
metal tools quickly and accurately.
Our team has the expertise to analyze
your production requirements and
determine the appropriate tool for your
production run and resulting parts.
Molding
Solid Concepts excels in a variety
of molding processes including
injection molding, compression
molding, insert over molding,
gas assist molding, die casting
of metals, thermoforming, sheet
metal, assembly and packaging.
We offer post molding services,
such as pad printing, silk screening,
painting, EMI shielding and plating.
Utilizing wet lay-up, pre-preg and RTM
processes, Solid Concepts produces
tough and durable carbon fiber noncosmetic
components. Kevlar and
other exotic woven materials can also
be employed with these processes.
Advanced Racing Computers turned to Solid Concepts’ Tooling
and Injection Molding operations to produce a computer that
provides feedback to high-level skiers.
solidconcepts.com

MASS PRODUCTION
Solid Concepts has tooling and molding capabilities to
successfully bring your product through the manufacturing
process. When Cross Match Technologies needed to
produce the SEEK 2 Scanner, they turned to Solid Concepts.
Utilizing hard tooling, injection molding and pad printing
services, Cross Match was able to produce its product
quickly. By combining Solid Concepts’ rapid prototyping
offerings with our tooling & injection molding services you’ll
be able to get your product to market faster than ever.

solidconcepts.com

MANUFACTURING
TECHNOLOGIES TO
FIT YOUR APPLICATION
Solid Concepts has steadily grown to a seven-facility, multiple technology company.
The location of each facility was meticulously thought out and chosen due to its
ties to the manufacturing community. Valencia, CA was the birthplace of additive
manufacturing in the 80’s. Consequently, the best and brightest minds in additive
manufacturing were located in Valencia, making it the perfect location for Solid
Concepts’ headquarters. As Solid Concepts grew and became more involved with
cast urethanes, a new location was established in San Diego, CA, the heart of the
cast urethane community. Our Austin, TX facility came into the picture for its ties to
Laser Sintering. Likewise Troy, MI was chosen for its Composite capabilities.
AUSTIN,TX
•SLS
•HIGHTEMPLS
•DMLS
PHOENIX,AZ
•TOOLING
•INJECTIONMOLDING
POWAY,CA
•POLYJET
•FDM
•CNC
•CASTURETHANES
•COMPOSITECAST
•COMPRESSIONCAST
SILICONE
TROY,MI
•CNC
•CASTURETHANES
•COMPOSITECAST
•VOLUMECAST
•COMPOSITEFIBERGLASS
•COMPOSITECARBONFIBER
•RTM
TUCSON,AZ
•Z-CORP3DCOLORPRINTS
•SLA
•SLS
VALENCIA,CA
2FACILITIES
•POLYJET
•SLA
•QUICKCAST
•SLS
•FDM
•CNC
•CASTURETHANES
•COMPOSITECAST
•COMPRESSIONCAST
SILICONE
•ROTATIONCAST
Our 6’4” superhero character ZoomR was created in two
weeks with ID-Light/ SLA technology and weighs only 29
lbs. ZoomR is the superhero character for ZoomRP.com,
a self-service website offering the fastest prototypes on
the planet. Learn more at www.zoomrp.com.

FINISHING
CustomFinishingforPrototypes
andManufacturedParts
Often, the difference between a good prototype and a great
prototype is the finishing. Backed by years of model making
experience, Solid Concepts’ finishing experts can add custom
treatments like texture, paint and hardware to make your prototype
virtually indistinguishable from a production part. Complete
in-house finishing capabilities will ensure production-quality
prototypes that are delivered on time and ready for immediate
application. Finishing services at Solid Concepts include:
Finishing
Cosmetic & Non-Cosmetic Paint
EMI & RFI Shielding
Textures & Mold-Tech ® Finishes with Cast-in Capabilities
Hardware (inserts, helicoils, screws, etc.)
Assemblies
Finishes from left to right: Machine Finish, Wet/Dry Blast, Hand Sanded,
Non-Cosmetic Paint, Master Finish with Primer and Cosmetic Paint.
Cosmetic Paint is typically a solid
color, but tinted clear and custom
finishes are also available.
Non-cosmetic paint applies
paint for color only to an
unfinished surface.
solidconcepts.com

FINISHING
By combining the latest finishing techniques, expert
knowledge and modern equipment, our dedicated
finishing department has developed finishing methods
to ensure accurate, beautiful looking parts. Our large,
climate-controlled paint booths enable us to consistently
apply a high-quality finish to small and large parts alike.
solidconcepts.com

APPLICATIONS
Prototypes
Concept Models & Evaluations – With lead times as
little as 24 hours, you can quickly simulate products during
all phases of the design process for visual evaluation
of features, aesthetics and functionality. Concept
models help to determine ergonomics and performance
that can’t always been assessed in a CAD drawing.
•POLYJET•SLA•Z-CORP•SLS•FDM•CNC
Engineering Evaluation – Rugged nylon and thermoplastic
materials make for easy verification of fit and design. Physical
parts help engineers confirm CAD design and prevent future
problems missed on screen. Solid Concepts rigorously
inspects each product allowing for accurate testing.
•POLYJET•SLA•SLS•DMLS•CNC
•QUANTUMCAST
Presentation Models – Finishing is often the difference in
a successful model. Our highly experienced finishers use
proprietary methods to accurately assemble and create
the finest presentation models, while our painters are
experienced and equipped with high-end equipment.
We have 11 technologies and over 50 rapid prototyping
machines, making it easy to get a display model.
•POLYJET•SLA•Z-CORP•ID-LIGHT
•SLS•CNC•QUANTUMCAST
Marketing Evaluation – Test groups, market introductions,
sales and overall aesthetics can benefit from fast turn
parts that simulate and look like the end product.
Pre-production studies allow necessary changes to
be implemented midstream, ultimately allowing the
best product possible to be released to market.
•POLYJET•SLA•SLS•FDM•CNC•QUANTUMCAST
Low Volume Production Parts
Market Introductions – A product’s success is pivotal on
how quickly you can get to market. Solid Concepts’ cast
urethane, SLS, FDM and composites technologies can
be used as a bridge to tooling and molding or can be
used as market introductions for new design iterations.
•SLS•FDM•CNC•QUANTUMCAST•COMPOSITES
Limited Production Runs – Cast Urethanes and Composites
are ideal for situations when the limited number of parts desired
doesn’t justify the cost of hard tooling. Limited production runs
are frequently used for projects requiring a small number of
parts or when a low volume needs to be produced quickly.
•SLS•FDM•CNC•QUANTUMCAST•COMPOSITES
Production Parts
Production Parts – When it’s time to bring your product
into production, Solid Concepts has a tooling and
molding division to fill all your short-run to high-volume
production needs. Capabilities include manufacturing,
injection molding, assembly and packaging.
•TOOLING•MOLDING
Investment Casting Patterns - Next Generation QuickCast
Investment Casting Patterns are offered only by Solid
Concepts. QuickCast patterns are accurate, strong, fully
drained, completely sealed and 10-35% lighter than
traditional patterns, assuring optimum casting yield.
•QUICKCASTINVESTMENTCASTINGPATTERNS
CNC machined aluminum
medical cart pedestal base.

DMLS is well suited for small metal
prototypes and production components
with complex geometries and applications
requiring high heat deflection.
Manufacturing Aids
Jigs & Fixtures – Setting up a manufacturing line involves
defining and acquiring various tools, jigs, fixtures, parts and
spares that do not comprise the actual product itself. Whether
they’re used for forming, locating, cutting, assembling, testing
or inspecting, Solid Concepts’ processes and materials get your
production line up and shipping product quickly and efficiently.
•SLS•FDM•CNC
SC 1000 Stereolithography material
has had success in creating clear
models for engineering evaluations,
fluid studies and examining internal
components.
solidconcepts.com