The University of Exeter, UK and Victrex, which specialises in polyaryletherketone (PAEK) polymers, have joined forces to improve additive manufacturing (AM) using PAEK polymers.
The new alliance will focus on multiple AM technologies, the participants says.
‘The new PAEK polymer based materials will give designers and developers the opportunity to use the best performing polymers within AM processes and help make this dream a reality, transforming AM into a high-performance production tool,’ said Professor Oana Ghita, lead of AM at the University of Exeter.
Victrex recently launched a new range of PAEK products designed for AM: a material for laser sintering, a filament with better Z-strength than existing PAEK materials and better printability for filament fusion.
‘In order 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, said Ian Smith, marketing director at Victrex.
In the aerospace sector, the use of PAEK/PEEK in AM could enable new designs and the consolidation of parts within a single design and allow the production of parts that would be difficult to machine. In medical, AM in conjunction with PAEK could make it easier to manufacture medical devices to make patient specific implants.
This story is reprinted from material from Victrex, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
