Thermoplastic In the 3D printing market has always been a very important role, ULTEM materials currently occupy most of the market share of advanced thermoplastic materials for 3D printing, but due to higher prices, some manufacturers in the additive manufacturing industry are more mature in technical equipment, such as Stratasys is working hard to develop PEEK (polyetheretherketone) and PEKK (polyetherketoneketone) materials to gradually replace ULTEM materials..
At the just-concluded 2018 MACH conference, Stratasys launched a new high-performance thermoplastic based on polyetherketone ketones -Antero 800NA . It is the first commercial product in the new program for the modification of polyether ketone ketones , Mainly for aerospace, automotive, oil and gas and some other high-end industrial manufacturing.
The most prominent feature of Antero 800NA is Better corrosion resistance than existing high-performance thermoplastics and less gas emissions during molding Its application range is wider than ordinary thermoplastics, because it is no longer affected by acid or organic compound functional groups, so it can be used as fuels and lubricants. Similarly, lower gas emissions also make Antero 800NA in the field of aerospace With new things, like satellites, the vacuum-enclosed environment in which it is exposed is very sensitive to the exhaust of materials. Only using these low-volume materials will not destroy the vacuum environment.
In addition to these features, Antero 800NA material High temperature resistance and wear resistance are also excellent , And it can make the parts lightweight by optimizing the structure, which is very suitable for the engine's material requirements.
In terms of processing technology, It is also less trouble than other high performance thermoplastics In the past, manufacturers purchased bulk polyetherketone ketones and then processed them into meshes using traditional techniques. The entire process was not only limited by the shape and size of the raw materials, but was a waste of raw materials during the preparation process. The cost remained high, and the production cycle was also delayed. Long. But now with the 3D printing method, the preparation process becomes faster, and the product structure can be optimized to obtain lighter parts and significantly reduce material waste.
Elena Terraz, manager of mold manufacturing at Stratasys, said: “We currently use the Fortus 450mc printer to print the Antero 800NA into the required parts, but the part size is small. So we plan to use the Fortus 900mc printer this year and print some big ones. Size parts (up to several meters in size). '