PEEK polymer pioneer Victrex (
www.victrex.com) is preparing newly developed materials for additive manufacturing (AM).
The first of these is a high-strength material for laser sintering (LS) that offers improved recycling of unsintered powder.
The second is a ‘filament’ with better Z-strength than existing PolyArylEtherKetone (PAEK) materials and better printability for filament fusion (FF).
The detailed technical results are expected to be presented at the bi-annual Additive Manufacturing conference of the University of Exeter Centre for Additive Layer Manufacturing (CALM), in September.
Jakob Sigurdsson, Victrex CEO, said: “These next-generation Victrex PAEK materials for AM mark a decisive step forward, having the potential to transform multiple applications, including those in aerospace and medical.
“The progress is based on continued intense R&D at Victrex and collaboration within the Victrex-led consortium of companies and institutions.”
AM can reduce costs, shorten time to market, and enable the production of parts too complex to be manufactured using traditional methods.
The PAEK materials on the market today, though used in some AM applications, were designed for conventional manufacturing methods, such as machining and injection moulding.
Because of this, they have some features that are not ‘optimal’ for AM processes.
A first-generation PAEK material for laser sintering cannot be readily recycled and will require a nearly full refresh of the printing bed with new powder, while PEEK filaments available for FF have poor interlayer bonding, leading to a loss in Z-strength.
The new polymer grades developed by Victrex have shown “encouragingly low” refresh rates (this improves the recycling of unsintered powder), with similar mechanical properties in LS, and good mechanical properties and printability in FF.
Victrex is leading a consortium of companies and institutions, and it was awarded funding from Innovate UK in 2016 to carry out intensive pioneering R&D to advance AM technologies — in particular, high-temperature affordable polymer composites for AM aerospace applications.
The other members of the consortium are Airbus Group Innovations, EOS, University of Exeter Centre for Additive Layer Manufacturing (CALM), E3D-Online, HiETA Technologies, South West Metal Finishing, and 3T-RPD.