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High performance materials available at Sculpteo: Take up your next challenge
More and more materials are available for 3D printing, whether they are plastics, metals or resins. Regarding polymers, progress is being made constantly in order to offer ever more efficient materials, allowing new applications for the most demanding sectors. Indeed, the mechanical properties you expect from traditional manufacturing are now available with 3D printing thanks to high performance materials!
Sculpteo, together with BASF, now offers the opportunity to 3D print with high performance materials directly on the PROTIQ Marketplace. With Ultrasint® PP nat 01, Jet Fusion PP, Ultrasint® PA6 FR, Ultrasint® PA6 MF, Ultrasint® TPU 88A and Ultrasint® TPU 01, additive manufacturing makes it possible to manufacture parts perfectly meeting the requirements of many industries. These materials offer interesting mechanical properties, heat and chemical resistance characteristics, flexibility and even waterproofness!
Polypropylene: Ultrasint® PP nat 01 & Jet Fusion PP
What are the characteristics of 3D printed polypropylene?
The two polypropylene materials offered by Sculpteo are resistant and have high rigidity. 3D printed with SLS technology, polypropylene is white in appearance and slightly translucent. 3D printed with Multi Jet Fusion technology, the material is gray / black. Polypropylene is already widely known in the industrial sector, in particular used for injection molding. Its technical properties make this material interesting for various applications. Initially, polypropylene has very good chemical resistance to agents and other aggressive products. It is also a strong and light material, which has good elongation at break, so it can be used to create parts with high mechanical stress. Polypropylene also has a good seal, it is also useful to contain liquids.
What are the advantages and applications of 3D printed polypropylene?
There are many applications for polypropylene. Due to its chemical resistance, this material is ideal for the automotive transport sector, making it possible to create parts in contact with hydrocarbons, for example. Polypropylene can therefore be used in the manufacture of tanks, circuits, parts which will lead flows or evolve in aggressive environments.
Polypropylene can also be used for industrial tools. It is for example possible, with this material, to create 3D printed flow connectors, to connect pipes.
But this material is not limited to the transport sector, it can also be used in other demanding sectors such as medical, among others, for the manufacture of orthoses.
What makes polypropylene so interesting is that it combines several advantages that are sought after in a single material: its strength, rigidity and chemical resistance are properties that we will find individually in other materials. , but polypropylene has the particularity of combining them.
© Sculpteo
Ultrasint® PA6 FR
What are the characteristics of PA6 FR?
PA6 FR is a rigid, gray material, printable with SLS technology. If PA6 is already known for its rigidity, PA6 FR or Flame Retardant has the particularity of resisting high temperatures. It indeed contains a flame retardant and its qualifications give it access to specific sectors.
What are the advantages and applications of PA6 FR?
Where the constraints are important and where the presence of flame or high temperatures is regular, the use of PA6 FR may be a good solution. In the electronics sector, the PA6 FR is ideally suited to the creation of housing, connector parts or components.
The PA6 FR can also be indicated for the management of flammable flows, or for rooms where the fire constraints are high such as in aerospace, aeronautics or transport in general.
PA6 FR can also be used in hazardous factories, where there are strong fire-resistant constraints on the materials. In this context, its mechanical properties can be used to create fasteners or tools.
Its high rigidity, its good thermal resistance and its flame retardant qualities make this material a perfect solution for projects where high temperatures are involved.
Ultrasint® PA6 MF
What are the characteristics of the PA6 MF?
Different versions and development of PA6 have been created for additive manufacturing to meet the needs of as many sectors as possible. PA6 MF, or “Mineral-Filled”, is a reinforced material offering great rigidity, combined with exceptional strength. PA6 MF is also heat resistant and has interesting waterproofing properties.
What are the advantages and applications of the PA6 MF?
The properties of PA6 MF make it a particularly useful material for the manufacture of containers having to withstand high-temperature flows. It can therefore be used to store oil, for networks, for distribution and connection parts.
The PA6 FR is particularly suited to the automotive industry that can be used for creating parts close to the engine. Indeed, its resistance to temperature and its good mechanical properties make it a material of choice for this sector. These same properties can benefit parts more conventionally found in 3D printing, such as tooling parts!
Ultrasint® TPU 88A & Ultrasint® TPU 01
What are the characteristics of the TPU?
The two TPU materials offered by Sculpteo can be 3D printed with SLS technology, for TPU 88A (white), or with MJF technology (gray) for TPU01. These are two flexible plastics, these two materials have an elongation capacity before breaking of 270%. The mechanical properties of these TPUs give them good shock absorption and good rebound. Thanks to the finishes offered by Sculpteo it is also possible to obtain a good surface quality.
What are the advantages and applications of the TPU?
TPU is an attractive plastic for its shock absorption capacity and flexibility. It is thus possible to use the TPU for the manufacture of sports equipment, such as protections. Orthopedic models, shock absorption and comfort parts can also be designed with this plastic.
When combined with the advantages of 3D printing, the properties of this material are particularly interesting, especially for the creation of lattice structures allowing to accentuate and vary the mechanical properties of the objects you want to create. Indeed, thanks to the design, it is quite possible to push the capacities of this material by modulating its properties. Flexible plastic, TPU, also shows good potential for gripping parts like pliers, but also for flexible hoses for example.
© Sculpteo
Why is it interesting to 3D print high performance materials?
Manufacture on demand
Additive manufacturing adapts to any production scale, making it possible to create parts for both prototyping and series production. The production times are fast, the time required between the idea and the obtaining of a part is also advantageous, compared to other manufacturing techniques, such as injection molding, where the development of a mold is needed.
Uncover the potential of high performance materials
Using these high-performance materials for 3D printing opens up new possibilities in terms of design and complex geometries. The flexibility offered by the design for additive manufacturing gives the opportunity to work with lattice structures, topological optimizations, hollow shapes, parts without assembly or which perfectly adapt to the available space within your projects.
By leveraging the advantages of design for additive manufacturing, parts are more efficient, less expensive, with less assembly. Additive manufacturing also makes it possible to create lighter parts thanks to innovative structures, which is particularly interesting for certain sectors such as the automotive industry. Taking the example of TPU, the flexible material, it is also possible in 3D printing to design parts with variable elasticity depending on the different areas.
Sculpteo, a manufacturing partner at your side
An online 3D printing service such as Sculpteo gives you access to a large catalog of 3D printing materials without having to invest in a professional 3D printer. Gain flexibility and quality for your prototypes and series, by benefiting from the expertise of our 3D printing experts!
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