Supernova’s proprietary VLM technology
As per the company, VLM can handle materials of unlimited viscosity, which enables new formulations such as the high solid-loading used in energetic materials.
It is a lithography-based additive manufacturing technique that uses a transparent film to transfer material onto a build platform, where they are cured by light to form 3D printed parts.
The material is first picked up by a roller, laminated to the underside of a transparent film, then transferred to the printing area. The build plate comes into contact with the recently laminated material at the desired layer thickness. The UV light engine cures the material solely in the specified area to create a new layer of the object to be printed.
The build plate retreats, peeling the recently cured layer from the film, while the unused material is recovered and recirculated to the reservoir.