MATERIALS | 3D PRINT COMPOUNDS
IMAGE: INSIGHT
Above: Cat models printed using black PETG. The cat on the right incorporated Insight TCA112 Low Gloss PETG Masterbatch
polymers, with the development of basic materials such as PLA and PETG, a recyclable polymer that lends itself well to recycled parts, it said. In 2023, Insight Polymers installed an 18 mm extrusion line to enable work with sustainable and biomass-de- rived fibres, fillers, and composites, and this year launched PETG & PLA Low Gloss masterbatches.
Functional parts A second emerging theme is the movement towards developing polymers for metal replace- ment. The third theme is 3D printing moving beyond prototypes to complete, functional finished articles. “To make this transition, we had to deal with factors that didn’t seem quite as important before,” said Jeremy Lizotte, Insight Polymers’ Co-founder and Director of Innovation. “These factors were the aesthetics, such as low-gloss, colour effects, and surface characteristics. Because the polymer must provide long-term functionality necessary for a finished product rather than a prototype, high-tem- perature performance, long-term aesthetic quali- ties, and long-term performance characteristics, are all more important.” The fourth theme relates to the growth in size of 3D printed parts. In the past, most 3D printing was of relatively small objects. As they got larger, the importance of dimensional stability became more significant. The company said it is also working on ultra-high viscosity PET glass fibre compound for Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM). “As newer, ad- vanced techniques of 3D printing are being devel- oped, they need materials that match the process and vice versa,” said AJ Pasquale, Co-founder and Director of Operations. “3D printing is evolving on the equipment and materials sides together.” Evonik has developed Infinam eCO, a PA12 powder for 3D printing which is said to substitute 100% of fossil feedstock with bio-based raw material by mass balance approach. This, the
26 COMPOUNDING WORLD | May 2024
company stated, amounts to a 74% reduction of CO2 emissions compared to its Infinam Terra development grade. Waste cooking oil, of which more than 15m tonnes is produced annually around the world, has been identified as an ingredient that can be used as a raw material for chemical production. By leverag- ing it in the production of Infinam eCO PA12, Evonik claims to have developed a material significantly more sustainable than its previous PA12 offerings. The company said that as well as exhibiting “excellent processability and stable mechanical properties” the new grade has a proven reusability rate of 100% of the structure support powder, with a refresh rate of 70/30 of used versus virgin material over several printing cycles. “True circularity is key for being successful in the
future,” said Dominic Störkle, Head of the Additive Manufacturing Innovation Growth Field at Evonik. “Evonik has developed a formula for its PA12 powders to drive circular plastics economy in additive manufacturing. With the introduction of Infinam eCO PA12, we go far beyond chemistry to start closing the loop.” Industrial 3D printing requires materials that, as printed components, correspond to the perfor- mance level of injection-moulded parts. Powder bed processes such as laser sintering offer almost unlimited geometric freedom, necessary because many components originally designed for injection moulding have complex geometries.
Reinforced polyamide Evonik said that unbound, very thin fibres or microscopic needles are risky to handle from an occupational safety perspective, and for this reason do not receive internal approval from industrial 3D printing processors. To combat this, in cooperation with Evonik, Lehvoss has developed a PA613 with compounded carbon fibre reinforcement. The base polymer PA613 was designed specifically for laser sintering and characterised by low moisture absorption, high temperature stability and, unlike PA6, high process stability in laser sintering. The fibre reinforcement consists of high-strength XCF fibres, which have previously been used in Luvo- com XCF products for injection moulding. Evonik said that when it comes to powder production, new approaches to particle technology were explored to preserve the fibre lengths in the individual particles as best as possible. Printing the Luvosint PA613 9711 CF requires a build chamber temperature of 195°C, which makes standard laser sintering machines suitable for processing. “The fact that the first automotive
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