- Spotlight on premieres of real-world applications built at industrial scale
- 46 casting cores for next-gen aircraft turbine blades on a single CeraFab S320 platform
- Highly complex Atomic Layer Deposition Ring with Ø=380 mm for the semiconductor industry
- Trade show premiere of serially printed semicon gas injectors with 0.2 mm wall thickness
- World premiere of the first serially 3D-printed patient-specific ceramic earpieces for hearing aids
- Spectacular single-piece zirconia capsule for award-winning monoblock cartridge with moving coil technology
4 November 2025: Vienna, Austria. The Lithoz booth at this year’s formnext will be entirely dedicated to real-life applications printed at industrial scale, thus becoming a true manifesto for serial production in ceramic 3D printing achieved with LCM technology. A convincing assessment of LCM technology’s current scaling pace for the main end-user industries attending the show – from aerospace and semiconductors over MedTech and GreenTech to the luxury goods industry – delivering a solid blueprint for fully tapping into the potential of ceramic AM. In particular, the showcase strongly emphasises the pivotal role of Lithoz’s global „Ceramic 3D Factory“ network of experienced LCM contract manufacturers. This network is a key driver of the current pace at which OEMs worldwide are adopting LCM-based ceramic 3D printing.
Lithoz will once again dedicate a booth section to the new CeraFab System S320 industrial printer with a five-fold bigger build area, which premiered at last year’s formnext. A series of new, mid-sized ceramic applications from serial production will be grouped next to the machine, which visitors can experience in a live demo run. The display’s highlight is a S320 build platform filled with a range of 46 ceramic casting cores used for building single crystal turbine blades for next-gen aircraft engines. These demonstrators are representative of those produced by Safran Aircraft Engines who recently installed three Lithoz CeraFab System S65 printers at their Gennevilliers facility near Paris. The ultra-precise reproducibility of these cores’ complex designs at industrial scale is only accessible via LCM printing, paving the way for the industrial production of turbine blades with previously unattainable delicate branching of cooling channels. This provides a new level of temperature management, which is a key challenge in reducing the fuel consumption of future generations of aircraft by enabling higher operating temperatures.
Directly adjacent, the audience can expect a highly complex atomic layer deposition (ALD) ring made of alumina with a remarkable diameter of 380 mm. Thanks to ultra-precise LCM technology, the ring used for gas deposition features an exceptionally thin-walled, ingenious lightweight construction with significantly optimised flow channels. As a critical wear part in the semiconductor industry, the ring, designed by Plasway and serially produced by Alumina Systems – two German companies – offers a verifiably extended uptime from one to nine months while at the same time tripling production output.
Another highly intricate customer component serially produced for the semiconductor industry is the innovative gas injector for etching processes, manufactured by Bosch Advanced Ceramics (Germany) on Lithoz CeraFab printers in 2,000 units per year. Three inlet channels, each 6 mm in diameter, unfold into 62 openings inside the injector, separated from each other by walls as thin as just 0.2 mm. In addition to the excellent chemical resistance provided by the use of alumina, the flow-optimized design and significantly reduced assembly effort offer the user of this critical wear part significant efficiency gains.
Rounding off Lithoz’ semicon display are ultra-precise aluminium nitride (AIN) cooling plates with intricate, three-dimensional internal lattice and gyroid structures that allow for highly efficient heat transfer, compact form factors, and targeted thermal regulation. Together with the excellent electrical insulation, thermal stability and superior resistance to chemical erosion of AIN, these plates offer long-term durability, precise performance and design customisation for the next generation of cooling solutions for demanding semiconductor-based technologies.
The medical and dental section of the Lithoz booth will offer a remarkable world premiere. At formnext, the patient-specific ceramic earmoulds for hearing aids, designed and marketed by Swiss company OC GmbH and mass-customised by CADdent (Germany) on Lithoz CeraFab S65 Medical printers, will celebrate their first-ever public appearance. In addition to the unsurpassed comfort of individually tailored, additively manufactured hearing aids, these so-called otoplastics, printed from alumina-reinforced zirconia (ATZ), offer two further fundamental advantages over titanium or plastic earmoulds: their acoustically neutral sound characteristics compared to titanium pieces and their supremely biocompatible hygiene qualities compared to their plastic equivalents.
Probably the most spectacular, but certainly the most aesthetically pleasing component built in serial production among Lithoz’s formnext premieres is the world’s first monoblock turntable cartridge with moving coil technology. The „Thales VORO“ cartridge for analogue turntables from HiFiction AG (Switzerland) is encapsuled in a striking, 3D-printed zirconia housing printed in one single piece without support structures. Its shape is inspired by naturally occurring Voronoi skeleton structures. Developed and scaled to production by Steinbach AG (Germany), whose formnext booth will feature the entire cartridge, the functional part’s capsule is characterised not only by its exceptional geometries but, thanks to the use of high-strength zirconia, also by its sublime resonance behaviour at the lowest possible weight. Its unique combination of engineering, design, and innovative manufacturing technology secured the Thales VORO the iF Design Award 2025.
Johannes Homa, Lithoz CEO, on the significance of formnext as the leading global trade fair for 3D printing: „With this focus on real series applications from various industries, we are not only sending a clear signal about the growing relevance and adoption pace of ceramic additive manufacturing for OEMs in these turbulent times. This concerted focus on premiering real-world components successfully scaled to industrial level on Lithoz CeraFab printers is our manifesto for serial production in ceramic 3D printing.”
Lithoz at formnext: Booth 11.1 C35.
Lithoz PR Contact: Clara Weißflog, +43 660 9128831 / [email protected]
