Powershot DUAL Performance (PolyShot Cleaning & Surfacing Combined)

(1) General Introduction

The Powershot DUAL Performance is a high-end, integrated sandblasting system under the DyeMansion brand, designed for future-oriented, industrial-scale 3D printing production. It combines PolyShot Cleaning and PolyShot Surfacing surface-finishing technologies, building on the Powershot X platform while delivering comprehensive performance upgrades and structural optimizations tailored to the demands of high-volume additive manufacturing. This makes it a dedicated post-processing sandblasting system engineered for large-scale industrial production. The equipment offers full compatibility with all major powder-bed 3D printing technologies, including SLS, SAF, MJF, and HSS, and supports the entire range of industrial-grade 3D printing polymers, such as PA11, PA12, TPU, and PP. It seamlessly integrates with high-end, scale-up printing systems from leading brands like EOS, Stratasys, HP, and Farsoon, meeting the high-throughput, highly standardized post-processing requirements of large-scale 3D printing production facilities. Featuring either a dual-workstation configuration or a single large-capacity workstation, the system significantly increases batch throughput, while its upgraded automated sandblasting system and tooling platform deliver enhanced cleaning and surface-finishing efficiency. Its core design aligns with Industry 4.0 principles for scalable manufacturing, enabling deep integration with fully automated 3D printing production lines. Key features include automated loading and unloading, remote process control, real-time production-data acquisition, and the ability to operate post-processing processes entirely unmanned. The system also allows flexible adjustment of cleaning and surface-finishing parameters based on production needs, enabling a variety of standardized surface finishes while ensuring process repeatability and consistency—making it a cornerstone post-processing solution for the industrial-scale mass production of 3D-printed parts. When paired with DyeMansion’s advanced steam polishing and deep-dyeing equipment, the Powershot DUAL Performance can form a fully automated 3D-printing post-processing workflow, achieving end-to-end automation from raw printed parts to finished products and helping enterprises realize industrial-scale, large-volume 3D printing production.

(2) Operating Principle

The Powershot DUAL Performance centers on the integration of PolyShot’s dual-process technology. Building upon the operating principles of the Powershot X, it achieves high-throughput, highly automated integrated cleaning and surface-treatment operations by upgrading the blast system, tooling platform, control system, and adding a scalable production module. At its core, the equipment continues to perform both cleaning and surface treatment in a single work cell with one clamping operation, using high-velocity polymer abrasive blasting to achieve physical decontamination and surface modification while simultaneously recycling and reusing the abrasive media. In terms of the blast system, the equipment features an array design with multiple high-pressure blast nozzles—significantly more than on the Powershot X—enabling full-coverage, synchronous blasting of parts. Blast pressure and velocity can be individually and precisely controlled by zone, allowing for differentiated settings tailored to specific areas when processing large components or multiple parts concurrently. This ensures optimal cleaning and surface-treatment results while boosting throughput per batch. The tooling platform has been upgraded to a high-precision, multi-degree-of-freedom system with enhanced load capacity, capable of simultaneously securing multiple parts or large, heavy components and providing 360° rotation without dead zones as well as precise linear positioning. The improved motion accuracy of the tooling platform ensures uniform blast coverage, while rapid tooling changeovers allow for quick adaptation to different part sizes and geometries, thereby increasing changeover efficiency. For process switching, the equipment incorporates an advanced intelligent process-switching module that eliminates the need for manual intervention: the system automatically adjusts key parameters such as blast pressure, abrasive particle size, number of active nozzles, and tooling rotation speed based on pre-set settings. It is also equipped with a high-capacity abrasive storage unit and a dual-path delivery system that can simultaneously hold multiple abrasive particle-size grades, enabling fast, automated media switching to meet diverse surface-finishing requirements. On the automation and intelligence front, the equipment supports seamless integration with robotic arms, AGVs, and other automated systems, enabling fully automated part loading, clamping, processing, and unloading—with no human intervention required throughout the entire workflow. Meanwhile, the control system can be deeply integrated with enterprise MES platforms, allowing for remote configuration of process parameters, real-time collection of production data, remote monitoring of equipment status, and intelligent fault diagnosis, thus providing robust data support for managing and optimizing large-scale production. In addition, the equipment’s airflow circulation and separation system has been scaled up, featuring high-power negative-pressure blowers and a multi-stage separation architecture that dramatically improves powder–abrasive separation efficiency and recovery rates, meeting the demands of high-volume production for efficient powder recovery and abrasive recycling.

(III) Advantages and Main Features

The core advantages of the Powershot DUAL Performance lie in its high throughput, advanced automation, and stringent standardization—all designed for industrial-scale production. It also boasts broad process compatibility, precise control over surface finish, and low operating costs, making it DyeMansion’s flagship sandblasting system tailored for the industrial-scale mass production of 3D-printed parts. In terms of productivity, the array-style nozzle configuration combined with a large-capacity, dual-workstation design delivers a qualitative leap in both per-batch throughput and hourly processing efficiency compared with conventional integrated systems, fully meeting the high-volume demands of large-scale 3D-printing manufacturing facilities. Meanwhile, the rapid tool-change system significantly reduces changeover time, enabling efficient small-batch, multi-variety production. Regarding automation and line integration, the equipment fully complies with Industry 4.0 standards and can be seamlessly integrated into fully automated 3D-printing production lines, achieving end-to-end automation across material loading/unloading, process execution, and data management—with no manual intervention required. This dramatically cuts labor costs. In addition, the built-in MES interface enables real-time collection and analysis of production data, providing robust data support for production management and process optimization and elevating the level of refined production control. In terms of process compatibility, the system is compatible with all mainstream powder-bed 3D-printing technologies and supports the full range of industrial-grade polymer materials, ensuring comprehensive process coverage with no blind spots. It can handle a wide variety of 3D-printed parts, from small, precision components to large structural elements—including ultra-high-precision parts with highly complex internal cavities and minute gaps. The spray system and workholding platform ensure complete coverage of every surface area of the part. For surface finish and process standardization, the equipment supports switching among multiple polymer abrasive particle sizes, enabling a range of standardized surface finishes such as matte, frosted, and fine-sandblasted finishes. Process parameters are highly precisely controllable, and the system can store and recall extensive parameter sets, guaranteeing consistent surface quality across different batches and production runs—thus meeting the standardization requirements of industrial-scale manufacturing. In terms of operating costs, the equipment achieves industry-leading shot-recycling rates and powder-recovery efficiencies, substantially reducing consumable and raw-material expenses; its automated operation further lowers labor costs; and its modular design facilitates easy maintenance, with key components that can be quickly replaced, minimizing downtime and boosting overall equipment utilization. Moreover, the integrated process design reduces the footprint of the equipment, lowering capital expenditures on facility space. In addition, the system features intelligent fault diagnosis and early-warning capabilities, enabling real-time monitoring of operational status and proactive identification of potential issues, thereby reducing failure rates and maintenance costs.

(4) Application Areas and Use Cases

The Powershot DUAL Performance is a high-end, scalable, integrated 3D printing cleaning and surface-finishing system primarily designed for industries and enterprises with large-scale, industrial-grade 3D printing production capabilities. It serves sectors such as automotive manufacturing, aerospace, industrial equipment manufacturing, and mass production of consumer goods, serving as a core post-processing solution for large-scale 3D printing production facilities, complete-vehicle manufacturers, and aerospace component suppliers. In the automotive sector, renowned automakers such as Daimler and BMW have deployed this system in their large-scale 3D-printed parts production facilities to perform post-processing on interior trim, exterior components, structural parts, and other 3D-printed components. The system enables automated cleaning and surface finishing of high-volume batches, ensuring superior surface quality and production efficiency, thereby supporting the industrial-scale mass production of 3D-printed parts and shortening product development and manufacturing cycles. In industrial equipment manufacturing, Siemens Digital Industries has incorporated this system into its industrial-grade 3D printing production lines for post-processing critical components. The system is fully integrated with Siemens’ fully automated production lines, enabling unmanned operations from printing through to post-processing, thus guaranteeing standardized and consistent part quality. As a result, it has become a key enabler for Siemens’ drive toward the industrialization of 3D printing; Karsten Heuser, Vice President of Additive Manufacturing at Siemens Digital Industries, has stated that this type of equipment represents a major milestone in the company’s strategic collaboration on 3D-printed industrialization. In the 3D printing services sector, Stratasys Direct Manufacturing, a global leader in 3D printing services, produces thousands of powder-bed 3D-printed parts each month. Following the adoption of the Powershot DUAL Performance, the company has achieved scalable, automated cleaning and surface-finishing operations, significantly improving processing efficiency and surface quality while reducing operating costs. This allows Stratasys to better serve large customers in the automotive, aerospace, and industrial equipment sectors, meeting their demand for high-volume, 3D-printed parts. In the aerospace industry, aerospace component suppliers use this system to post-process 3D-printed spare parts and prototypes. Given the stringent requirements for high precision and superior surface finish in aerospace components, the system delivers precise control over cleaning and surface treatment, ensuring optimal surface performance and reliability. At the same time, its scalable processing capacity meets the aerospace industry’s need for small-batch, multi-variety spare-part production. In the mass-production segment of consumer goods, internationally recognized footwear and accessories brands have adopted this system in their 3D-printed product manufacturing lines—for example, in the large-scale production of 3D-printed shoe midsoles and personalized accessories. The system enables automated cleaning and surface finishing of high-volume batches, safeguarding product appearance and production efficiency, and helping consumer-goods brands achieve industrial-scale mass production of 3D-printed products. In addition, the system is also used in the large-scale production of medical devices: major medical-device manufacturers employ it to post-process standardized 3D-printed medical components, satisfying the demand for scalable, standardized production while ensuring the quality and safety of medical products.