3D printing | applications feature
Peter Mapleston examines polymer developments for a range of additive manufacturing technologies including the fast growing market for 3D printing
Rapid growth: developing plastics for 3D printing
The market for plastics processing is changing. Shorter product life cycles, the increasing need to reduce time to market, and the growing requirement for personal- ised products are affecting how plastics parts are made. Injection moulding will always be the process of choice for producing large unit volumes, but the attraction of additive manufacturing (AM) is growing for one-off parts, small-volume batches, and prototypes. As the range of materials developed specifi cally for AM increases, so will the use of the technology. Companies supplying materials into AM are seeing
market growth fi gures in excess of 30% per year. But it needs to be pointed out that developing such materials is far from easy, and the specifi cations that they have to meet are extremely demanding. A considerable amount of effort is being put into developing materials that run better on the various types of 3D printing machines, and which yield parts with properties comparable with those of injection mouldings. Who is doing what? Here is a review of a selection of
the most recent developments. Last September, Eastman Chemical Company
entered the 3D printing market with its Amphora 3D polyester copolymer. It launched the new material in
www.compoundingworld.com
conjunction with Helian Polymers, a Netherlands- based masterbatch distributor and an extruder of 3D printing fi laments that it markets under the ColorFabb brand-name. The companies say that the low-odour polymer is
very well suited for the 3D printing market, with benefi ts in air quality, dimensional stability and regulatory compliance. It generates fewer ultra-fi ne particulates than ABS (which together with PLA is the most commonly used polymer in 3D printing). In addition, it is tougher and creates stronger, more detailed parts with increased temperature resistance. Eastman also says that inter-layer bonding and chemical resistance are improved over current options. Amphora complies with certain US FDA regulations for food contact applications. “Extrusion-based desktop printing has yet to see a
solution for functional parts. Our collaboration with Helian has allowed us to go beyond prototypes,” says Alex Dudal, market development representative at Eastman. He adds that with Amphora 3D polymers, functional parts can be printed for industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, technology, education and retail. Eastman is considering tailoring options such as
May 2015 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 43 Eastman
entered the 3D printing market last year with its Amphora 3D polyester copolymer
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