On the 10th of December, 3Dnatives hoted a webinar with Prodways, Sculpteo and BASF Forward AM to talk about Polypropylene (PP) applications in Additive Manufacturing. Widely used in the plastic injection industry, Polypropylene offers interesting characteristics for industrial applications such as lightness, resistance to chemicals, to fatigue, and good electrical insulation. On the 3D printing market, however, it remains quite rare. Difficult to print, it requires a rigorous control in its heat treatment and particular attention to adhesion, whether on the build plate or between each layer. For many AM machines, this material is too complicated to handle when creating parts.
Recently integrated into Sculpteo’s material portfolio, we had an opportunity to discuss the challenges, but also the payoffs, of 3D printing parts in PP, specifically from a service bureau’s point of view. Today, Sculpteo, part of the BASF group is providing online 3D printing services to answer companies’ needs from prototyping to serial production. Therefore, we reviewed how Sculpteo adopted the ProMaker P1000 X system from Prodways to print with PP, and more generally discussed typical 3D printed applications for this material, and the benefits they bring to the industry.
The ProMaker P1000 X from Prodways is based on Powder Bed Sintering technology (SLS), and has been developed for service providers and manufacturers targeting industrial-grade productivity and flexibility. This machine can now be operated with the new PolyPropylene PP1200 from the company. To learn more about Polypropylene and its applications in the field of AM, check out the replay below.
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