Victrex and the University of Exeter collaborate in making the prospect of PAEK Additive Manufacturing a reality

The University of Exeter and Victrex, have commenced work in a strategic partnership, to develop a broader platform for new and existing Additive Manufacturing AM technologies.

The collaboration aims to introduce next-generation PAEK polymers and composites while improving the performance of the underlying AM processes.

Victrex and the University´s Centre for Additive Layer Manufacturing (CALM) started to work together in a consortium focussing on the development of VICTREX PAEK polymers for various 3D printing processes.

Victrex has recently announced a newly developed advanced PAEK designed for AM, a high strength material for laser sintering (LS), a filament with better Z-strength than existing PAEK materials and better printability for filament fusion (FF).

Due to improved technologies for additive manufacturing of VICTREX PAEK, potential benefits of using PAEK polymer for AM could include greater design freedom for engineers, higher-performance AM solutions, enabling the production of highly complex, customised, and specialised PAEK components and digital design and fabrication of PAEK parts for rapid prototyping and speed to market.

In the aerospace sector, the use of PAEK/PEEK in AM has the potential to enable new designs and the consolidation of parts within a single design and can also allow the production of parts that would be difficult to machine.

For the medical industries, AM in conjunction with PAEK will allow the manufacture of medical devices to make patient specific implants.

"Victrex is keen to help overcome barriers to adoption and realise the full potential of PAEK/PEEK-based parts produced using AM technology," explains Ian Smith, Marketing Director at Victrex.

"To open up the AM supply chain, we need to continue to work together to develop an eco-system that can address unmet industry needs and accelerate the adoption of PAEK/PEEK for AM technologies. This cooperation with the University of Exeter is one part of Victrex´s efforts to construct that eco-system."