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EPIC Design

EPIC Design technology produces durable, affordable, and extra-large designs with customizable surface textures and finishes for architects, artists, and designers

KEY FEATURES AND BENEFITS

Speed: By printing directly from a CAD file, EPIC Design products offer faster turnaround times than traditional materials
Cost: By starting with a cost-effective raw materials such as sand, infiltrating green parts with resin opens new design opportunities to a broad audience without the cost of traditional tooling, patterns, or machining
Design Freedom: Without the limitations of manufacturability with traditional processes, 3D printing allows complex geometries and lightweight lattices to be printed layer by layer
Flexibility: Whether metal plated, powder coated, or replicating plaster or leather, surface finish and coloration is tailored to your application.

What is EPIC Design?

Traditional CNC machining lacks the capability to produce complex, organic designs and often requires long lead times and high tooling investments. Engineered Particulate Infiltration Composite (EPIC) Designs start by optimizing a digital model that can be 3D printed on an ExOne S-Max machine in under 24 hours without traditional manufacturing limitations. Green state parts are then transformed into durable, functional parts through a resin infiltration process. A range of surface finishes allow for customizations that are durable and rated for interior or exterior use and tailored to the design requirements. The technology is also used to create industrial tooling.

From architecture and restoration to art and consumer products, EPIC designs are used today as building components, statues, end-use decorative products, and speaker housings

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EPIC Architecture

Digital manufacturing offers unique, cost-effective solutions for aging infrastructure and the need to reimagine environmentally-conscious new building construction. Complementary technologies like 3D scanning create reproductions at a reduced cost that enables universities and institutions to preserve historic monuments and artifacts with historic details while architectural devolumization with the design freedom of additive manufacturing. EPIC Design technology offers unique benefits over existing solutions in restoration and building design and final products are certified for interior and exterior architectural uses.

Allegheny College - Bentley Hall Restoration

During the restoration of historic Bentley Hall, a fast and cost-effective solution was sought to restore eight capitol pieces featuring spiral volutes. Existing solutions such as CNC machining lacked capabilities to replicate the complex spiral features and traditional architectural materials were more expensive than utilizing 3D printing.

Over 150 years old, the original capitol was 3D scanned to capture the design while the digital workflow allowed ease-of-installation features to integrated and 3D printed on the directly into the replicas. Once produced on the S-Max binder jetting system, the capital pieces were infiltrated and processed for strength before being primed and painted according to the customer requirements.

Certified for exterior use, the final components were delivered in three weeks and installed on the cupola of Bentley Hall.

The original capitol piece (top) was 3D scanned before being reproduced with ExOne sand 3D printing and processed with EPIC Design technology (middle). The final components were installed on the exterior of Bentley Hall at Allegheny College (bottom).

Lattice structures are tested for strength (top) while patterning is investigated for more ecologically-friendly design (middle). Cradle rocking planters (bottom) were developed with ExOne EPIC Design technology.

Carnegie Mellon University School of Architecture - Concrete Devolumization

Master of Science in Sustainable Design students investigate advanced manufacturing technologies to shape pulverized construction materials more efficiently with less volume and waste. The team uses ExOne binder jetting to investigate and re-shape architectural components that capitalize on devolumization in construction with the low carbon footprint of concrete unit mass.

Cradle rocking planters were developed for local industrial-site revitalization to test material properties while studying surface patterns for plant growth and rainwater collection. Binder jet 3D printing offers the material flexibility to investigate reclaimed materials for more sustainable architecture while complex, eco-friendly designs revitalize nature and encourage community growth though environmental engagement and stewardship.

Read the complete case study.

EPIC Artwork

Additive manufacturing technology empowers the mass customization that enables affordable yet unique pieces of art and reproductions. EPIC Design technology has been used produce large-scale pieces of art, from 9’ statue replicas to exterior wall decorations with integrated mounting. With the fast output and large-scale capabilities of ExOne binder jet technology, EPIC Design allows creators to 3D print their artwork in affordable raw materials and customize the texture and color of the surface finish for their presentation.

Liberty of Poetry - Sharing Art Through Replication

A 9-foot tall replica of The Liberty of Poetry statue from the opera di Santa Croce in Florence, Italy was commissioned for the “Sisters in Liberty: From Florence, Italy, to New York, New York” display at the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration. Designed by Pio Fedi as a memorial monument playwright Giovanni Battista Niccolini, the statue bears resemblance to the Statue of Liberty, created at the same time but by a different artist in a different country.

A 3D scan from the original statue was used to create a design file to 3D print an eighty-percent scale reproduction. Multiple prints were mounted together before finishing for display in the National Museum.

Akron Children's Hospital Mahoning Valley - Affordable Creative Solutions

Collaborating with local architects, key components of an art display in the main lobby of a new children’s hospital were 3D printed. Oversized animals, some over three feet long, were formed from digital designs before being infiltrated into durable pieces that could be finished with colorful surfaces.

EPIC Design with binder jetting provided the best option, being more affordable and faster than other digital 3D printing technologies while yielding a higher-quality finished product.

Sinks from Sand - Sandhelden

The high cost of toolmaking led the founder of the German startup to investigate alternative production routes for the company's sinks. Binder jet 3D printing provided a fast and affordable method to create modern bathroom designs that can be customized by their customers and that align with the company's mission of sustainability. Forms 3D printed in sand receive a protective, water-repellent and scratch-resistant coating that withstands the daily demands of bathroom use.

Learn more about Sandhelden.

Flexible Options and Sizes

Designers, architects, and artists can now purchase EPIC Design products directly from ExOne through the company’s ExOne Adoption Centers — or manufacturers can purchase a 3D printer for their own production applications.

All sand- and sand-infiltrated EPIC Designs are produced in the build volume of ExOne S-Max^® series printers: 1800 x 1000 x 700 mm (70.9 x 39.4 x 27.6 in.). Printed sections can also be segmented and assembled together before epoxy infiltration to make even larger pieces.
A variety of surface finishes can be applied after the part has been printed, including textured, smooth, painted, metal plated, powder coated, and more.
Rated for interior and exterior use, EPIC Design products passed ASTM C1194, 1195 and C666, compression, water absorption and freeze/thaw.

What is Binder Jet 3D Printing?

ExOne’s binder jet 3D printing transforms powdered materials — metal, sand, or ceramic — into highly dense and functional precision parts at high speeds.

An industrial printhead selectively deposits a binder into a bed of powder particles creating a solid part one thin layer at a time, similar to printing on sheets of paper. When printing EPIC Designs, green state parts from the 3D printer are functionalized through a resin infiltration process. A range of surface finishes allow for customizations that are durable and rated for interior or exterior use and tailored to the design requirements.

Binder jet 3D printing technology is viewed as a desirable and sustainable production method, largely because of its high speed, low waste and cost, as well as material flexibility.

Interested? Get Started Today!

Reach out to speak with an ExOne representative on how sand 3D printing can bring your EPIC Design to life.

EPIC Design - 3D Printing Elevated