Inkbit and Waters Materials Sciences
Validating a New Class
of High-Performance Digital Materials
When a customer’s chosen epoxy failed at a lower stress load than expected, Inkbit set out to create a more durable, functional material to suit their industrial application. See how the TA Instruments Electroforce Apex 1 helped them engineer a higher-performing digital material in just six months.
Diagnose a real-world part failure with tensile and DMA temperature testing
Screen seven material formulations without lab-scale reformulation
Verify strength, stiffness, and fatigue life at true end-use temperatures
Move from failure analysis to a qualified, production-ready material
Access the Case Study
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
Inside the Case Study
A field-failure investigation, told through the actual test data, from root-cause analysis to a qualified replacement material.
Diagnose the Failure
See how tensile testing at 23 °C, 50 °C, and 70 °C, paired with a DMA temperature sweep, pinpointed why a functional epoxy part failed below its rated stress load.
Screen Materials, Not Formulations
Learn how blending two compatible base resins directly on the printer let the team iterate through multiple digital material designs without benchtop research.
Test Under Real Conditions
Follow how five candidate materials were narrowed down using tensile strength, heat deflection, and DMA storage modulus data at true application temperatures.
Confirm with Fatigue Data
Review cyclic load testing from 95-950N that separated the final candidates and confirmed improved fatigue strength over the original material.
WHO THIS PAPER IS FOR
Built for Teams Engineering Custom Materials
Whether you’re formulating, printing, or qualifying materials for end-use parts, this case study maps directly to your workflow.
MATERIALS ENGINEERS
Additive Manufacturing & Polymers
See a repeatable framework for screening digital material formulations and correlating thermal transitions to real mechanical performance.
R&D TEAMS
Application Development
Understand how to move from a field failure to a qualified material candidate in months rather than years.
LAB MANAGERS
Test Lab & Equipment Planning
Evaluate how consolidating tensile, thermal, and fatigue testing onto one instrument simplifies installation, training, and daily operation.