Elix Polymers ABS portfolio
Citing its flexibility in production and wealth of knowledge in polymers, Elix believes it is the right partner for companies involved in 3D printing.
Elix Polymers becomes the latest company to preview the products it will be exhibiting at next month’s TCT Show in Birmingham, UK.
It will be the first time the Spanish 3D printing material developer will exhibit at our premier event, now in its 22nd year.
From stand F59, Elix Polymers will present its new 3D printing product portfolio, which launched earlier this year. Having conducted some analysis of the 3D printing market, Elix Polymers has produced new grads for FDM/ FFF, which have already been validated by other filament manufacturers, 3D printer makers and final part manufacturers.
So far, Elix has developed and optimised five ABS grades for 3D printing, each of them able to satisfy the user in different ways. Despite their difference, they all boats improved printing performance, low warpage, dimensional precision and high resolution.
The portfolio includes ELIX ABS-3D GP, a general purpose grade; ELIX ABS-3D FC, which fulfils EU regulation 10/2011 covering plastics intended for food contact, as well as biocompatibility standards ISO 10993-1 and USP class VI foo food contact; ELIX ABS-3D HI, a high impact grade; ELIX ABS-3D LA, a grade with improved interlayer adhesion for complex parts; and ELIX ABS-3D NF, a reinforced polymer with natural fibres that produce parts with a wood-like appearance when used on ‘special’ 3D printers.
A series of demanding material tests has been set up by Elix Polymers to evaluate the quality of the final filament. The new grades have been backed up by technical support that includes recommendations on correct processing set-ups, such as extruder screw design, drive system, and spool system.
“The objective is to obtain the filament with the best quality properties in typical thicknesses of 1.75mm and 2.85mm and validate the material to meet the requirements of the final application,” explains Luca Chiochia, Business Development Manager.
Having reached these objectives on its five new polymer grades, Elix Polymers believes they can cater for a broad scope of applications, in an equally diverse range of industries.
“Elix is the right partner for companies involved in 3D printing, thanks to its flexibility in production and the huge bank of polymer knowledge it has acquired over the last 40 years,” said Fabian Herter, Marketing Manager. “[We] view 3D printing as an important means of creating prototype and production parts in small and medium quantities in a fast and highly cost-effective way, with low scrap and without any need for cutting metal to make moulds.
“The physical limits imposed by conventional manufacturing technologies are also a thing of the past. And 3D printing of parts and final assembly at the intended place of use will also place less importance on transport logistics, which is one of the main source of pollution at this time.”
Elix Polymers will be showcasing its range of polymer grades at TCT Show from Stand F59 between September 26th and September 28th.
