Case Study: Fraunhofer ILT achieves 2‑meter self‑supporting LIGHT letters without build crashes with Materialise's slice‑based Build Processor

LIGHT Letters Make for the Heaviest Data Set We Ever Sent to a 3D Printer

Fraunhofer ILT needed a real showstopper for LASER World of Photonics 2015: five approximately 2‑meter‑tall stereolithography letters spelling LIGHT that had to be extremely lightweight, self‑supporting and printable without causing build crashes. They engaged Materialise, using Materialise 3‑matic, Magics and the Materialise Build Processor alongside Mammoth Stereolithography machines to tackle the unusually large and complex data set.

Materialise engineered ultra‑light internal structures in 3‑matic, optimized part orientation with Magics, and used its slice‑based Build Processor to save geometry as slice‑files so printers could handle the largest data set in Materialise history without crashing. The result: successful prints with only the bottommost millimeter of automatic support, a crash‑free build workflow, and finished letters displayed at the show—demonstrating measurable gains in print reliability and data handling by Materialise.

Fraunhofer ILT

Reinhart Poprawe

Director