Solvay expands offering of high-performance polymers for 3D-printing

Solvay has announced it is expanding its offering of high-performance polymers for 3D-printing.

The company has added 10 per cent carbon fibre filled KetaSpire polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and neat Radel polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) to e-Xstream engineering’s latest release (2019.0) of Digimat-Additive Manufacturing (AM) software.

Solvay says these products complement the neat KetaSpire PEEK AM filament already available for simulation on e-Xstream engineering’s Digimat-AM platform.

This software offers accurate, predictive modelling data for Solvay’s AM filaments over a wide range of critical characteristics, including detailed warpage and residual stress, to help designers and engineers optimise the process and minimise part deformation before printing.

For highly demanding applications, Digimat further enables design validation by predicting the printed part performance as a function of the material and the printing process parameters.

“Our growing range of AM filaments underscores Solvay’s determination to establish itself as an industry leader in this rapidly evolving market,” said Christophe Schramm, Additive Manufacturing Business Manager in the company’s Specialty Polymers global business unit.

“Digimat-AM allows customers to simulate the printing process and successfully predict the thermomechanical behaviour of 3D-printed designs to ‘print right the first time’.”

“With the addition of Solvay’s new AM grades, we now have a wider portfolio of 3D printing grades in Digimat to provide cutting-edge new materials to push the design and application boundaries in this dynamic market,” added Roger Assaker, CEO of e-Xstream engineering and Chief Material Strategist for MSC Software.

“As a result of our partnership, we bridge the gap in simulation engineering between high-performance polymers and demanding printing processes such as Fused Filament Fabrication.”