MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sabic, a global leader in the chemical industry, has launched its new LEXAN EXL AMHI240F filament, a unique product for fused deposition modeling that delivers high impact performance and low-temperature ductility, as per the company's press release.
The company is also introducing to the European market a product family of eight reinforced compounds for large format additive manufacturing. Further illustrating its emphasis on disruptive technologies, Sabic has highlighted several other distinctive solutions for additive manufacturing.
"Expansion of additive manufacturing depends on the availability of high-performance materials that can help optimize processing and promote application innovation," said Stephanie Gathman, director, Emerging Applications, SABIC. "Sabic is creating a range of new materials for different additive manufacturing processes, and supporting customers with our extensive expertise and resources for testing, design and application development. The breadth of technologies we are highlighting here at Formnext attest to our strategic efforts to help the industry take full advantage of additive manufacturing’s great potential."
Sabic’s LEXAN EXL AMHI240F filament is based on LEXAN EXL polycarbonate (PC) copolymer and delivers high toughness and high strength for potential use in demanding applications in the aerospace, consumer electronics and automotive industries. Available for use in Stratasys Fortus Classic printers, the material processes at standard Stratasys print settings for PC. It may also be appropriate for other printers with sufficient temperature capability and an open-format architecture.
The company also is making available to European customers a portfolio of six filaments for fused deposition modeling. They are based on Sabic’s industry-leading ULTEM polyetherimide (PEI) resin, CYCOLAC acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resin and LEXAN PC resin, and offer the same composition as the company’s injection molding grades. Available for use in Stratasys Fortus Classic printers, these products target a broad range of customer requirements, and offer greater choice to the industrial filament market.
Sabic’s family of eight high-performance THERMOCOMP AM compounds, also new to the European market, addresses the unique requirements of large format additive manufacturing. Reinforced with carbon or glass fibers for added strength, the new compounds are based on four amorphous resins: ABS, polyphenylene ether (PPE), PC and PEI. They exhibit good creep behavior, reduced deformation under constant pressure and lower shrinkage compared to crystalline resins. They are excellent candidate materials for applications in the tooling, aerospace, automotive and defense industries.
Besides, Sabic is working on innovations beyond its current portfolio of fused deposition modeling filaments and reinforced compounds for large format additive manufacturing. The company has developed several disruptive material solutions that offer improved performance versus currently available products:
- Polycarbonate materials for selective laser sintering (SLS): SABIC is developing a technology to enable laser sintering of PC materials with good mechanical properties and part densities above 96 percent. These powders may provide an alternative to polyamide 12 (PA 12) and can be processed using commercially available printers.
- Polycarbonate and ULTEM PEI filaments: Made with SABIC’s healthcare-grade resins, these filaments enable printed parts with excellent mechanical performance, sterilization compatibility and biocompatibility.
- EXTEM thermoplastic polyimide (TPI) filaments for fused deposition modeling: These filaments represent Sabic’s ongoing focus on developing differentiated, high-temperature solutions for additive manufacturing. The materials are a great alternative consideration for applications requiring higher temperature performance than ULTEM polyetherimide (PEI) filaments.
As MRC reported before, in October 2016, Sabic announced that it had developed next generation low density polyethylene (LDPE) foram grades. The first product of a new generation of LDPE foam grades from SABIC was designed to increase production efficiency at the foam manufacturer.
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) ranks among the worldпїЅs top petrochemical companies. The company is among the worldпїЅs market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
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