Composite parts are made from two materials - an exterior shell and reinforcement fibers. When the two materials are combined, the 3D printed parts have synergistic properties different from the original materials. Markforged developed the 3D printing method of Continuous Filament Fabrication, which reinforces parts with continuous fibers, enabling those parts to be robust enough to replace machined metal. Reinforcement materials include fiberglass, Kevlar and carbon fiber.
Markforged has developed completely safe 3D printing metal technology by binding the metal powder in a plastic matrix. 3D printed metal parts from Markforged metal printers are up to 10x less expensive than alternative metal additive manufacturing technologies and up to 100x less expensive than traditional metal fabrication methods. The variety of metal materials include tool steels, inconel, titanium and stainless steel.
