Dr Ingo Ederer, CEO of Voxeljet, says: “We are really excited about the speed we see in the qualification of new materials for our HSS process. In less than nine months we were able to qualify various grades of polyamide powders and are successfully printing several types of TPU. We are also working on some very customer-specific materials including PP, which is one of the most widely used plastic materials in the world. PP features extremely interesting properties and addresses a broader set of applications. We are successfully printing PP on our smaller VX200 HSS systems and expect a smooth transition to our larger and automated VJET XHSS production system, which we anticipate making commercially available at the end of 2019.”
Importantly, PP does not present stress-cracking problems and offers excellent electrical and chemical resistance at higher temperatures. Bumpers, cladding and exterior trim can also be manufactured from the material. PP developed for such applications provides a low co-efficient of linear thermal expansion and specific gravity, high chemical resistance and good weather resistance, processing capabilities and impact/stiffness balance.
According to Voxeljet, sectors set to benefit from the use of PP include automotive, electrical, industrial, consumer products and household goods.
TPU is an elastomer that is fully thermoplastic. Like all thermoplastic elastomers, the material is elastic and melt-processable, and allows for the printing of ultra-flexible objects with very high levels of precision and resolution. More than any other thermoplastic elastomer, TPU can provide a considerable number of physical property combinations, making it an extremely flexible material that is adaptable to dozens of uses, such as construction, automotive and footwear. This versatility results from the unique structure of TPU and leads to high resilience and good compression set, plus resistance to impact, abrasion, weather, and even hydrocarbons.
Potential applications for TPU include sporting goods, industrial parts, and hydraulic seals and gaskets.
