MATERIALS | 3D PRINTING
provided excellent machinability, dimensional stability and thermal resistance, enabling the production of smooth, precise moulds that ensured the wing’s aerodynamic efficiency. Its lightweight design also facilitated handling and accurate positioning during lamination, while its mechanical integrity allowed the moulds to endure multiple autoclave cycles at 120°C and 2 bar without deformation, perfectly supporting the fabrication of the carbon fibre components that make Olivia both lightweight and robust. CRP Technology and CRP Meccanica have
Above:
Alpenglow Hy6’s intake plenum and manifolds, made with CRP’s materials
HP 3D HR PA11 Gen2 featured on a portable
materials wall on the HP stand, which displayed a range of 3D printed sample parts, giving attendees the opportunity to see and touch the materials first hand. Attendees could explore the material’s properties directly through printed parts on display. The Jet Fusion 5600 series also features a dedicated print mode for electrostatic discharge (ESD) using HP 3D HR PA12 developed with Evonik, which HP says is ideal for industrial and machinery equipment where ESD control is critical. Another Evonik-based material demonstrated at Formnext was HP 3D HR PA12 FR, a flame retard- ant, halogen-free, UL94 certified material for Jet Fusion 5600 which enables new applications in the electronics industry.
Collaborations Xenia Materials contributed its 3D printing-grade polycarbonate reinforced with carbon fibre in a collaboration with Fly-Mi Euroavia Milano, a student association of the Politecnico di Milano. The project was to develop Olivia (optimized lightweight intelligent vehicle for immediate assistance), an autonomous drone designed to compete in the UAS Challenge 2025. This partner- ship was the second consecutive year of coopera- tion between Xenia and the Fly-Mi team, following the success of their previous drone project, NYX. Olivia is a fixed-wing drone with a V-tail and semi-elliptic high-wing configuration, capable of fully autonomous missions, from take-off to landing, while carrying up to 1.75 kg of payload. To achieve the precise aerodynamic and structural requirements of the high wing, the team needed high-quality moulds capable of withstanding autoclave lamination cycles. For this purpose, the students relied on Xenia
Materials’ Xecarb 40-C20-3DP, a high-performance 3D-printable polycarbonate reinforced with 20% carbon fibre. The company said this material
40 COMPOUNDING WORLD | May 2026
collaborated with Alpine in the development and manufacturing of the intake plenum and manifold system for the Alpenglow Hy6, a hydrogen-pow- ered rolling prototype car. Alpine turned to CRP Technology to address limitations in an initial configuration which combined 3D printed polymer parts with bonded aluminium flanges, which showed sealing issues during bench testing due to thermal expansion differences, vibration and high thermal loads. CRP Technology proposed a fully monolithic
architecture produced via selective laser sintering (SLS) using its carbon fibre-reinforced thermoplas- tic Windform SP, requiring only minor design adjustments. The final system consists of three monolithic components – one intake plenum and two intake manifolds – with integrated flanges that eliminate aluminium parts and ensure uniform material behaviour under turbocharged operation. After sintering, vapour smoothing optimized internal surfaces, while CNC machining by CRP Meccanica ensured accurate fit and sealing through a hybrid additive-subtractive workflow developed within the CRP organization. The intake system successfully passed engine dyno validation, maintaining structural integrity under pressure cycles up to 5 bar, and was later installed on the Alpenglow Hy6 prototype for on-track testing, supporting faster development within Alpine’s hydrogen powertrain programme.
CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: �
www.3dsystems.com �
www.stratasys.com �
www.shinetsu.co.jp �
www.lati3dlab.com �
https://physispeb.it �
www.arkema.com �
www.poolp.eu �
www.hp.com �
www.evonik.com �
www.xeniamaterials.com �
www.crp-group.com
www.compoundingworld.com
IMAGE: APLINE DEISGN
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