Solvay has revealed the winners of its AM Cup 2019, a competition for university students around the world to 3D print specific shapes using the company’s Radel polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) AM filament.
Each team received a spool of the filament and was asked to replicate an ASTM D638 Type V size tensile bar in the z-axis and a wavy-shaped pressure pipe, a difficult shape to injection mold. The teams aimed to achieve dimensional accuracy and mechanical performance, including burst pressure tests, and translucency. In addition, the jury evaluated the creativity of the 3D printing methods.
The overall winner was the Gekko Performance team from the Technical University of Munich, Germany. The team achieved 100% z-axis strength in the Type V size tensile bar and its wavy pipe showed overall dimensional accuracy, surface uniformity, and an improved mechanical performance by enduring a burst pressure test of 1,400 psi (96.5 bar) for two hours.
Two teams from Ghent University, Belgium - PPSUsual and PPSUPER - were awarded second and third place respectively.
‘It was inspiring to see the various approaches to solving the challenges of fused filament fabrication (FFF) such as bed adhesion and chamber temperature management. The winning team demonstrated once more that 3D printed parts can virtually match the performance and quality of conventional injection molded parts, provided material, hardware, and process are optimised together,’ said Ryan Hammonds, R&D platform manager at Solvay’s and president of the jury.
This story uses material from Solvay, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
