Joris Peels, of i.materialise, sent us a link to this video of him demo’ing the strength and flame-retardant qualities of Ultem 9085, a 3D printing material made for use in aircraft parts. He melts the piece, eventually, but he really has to work at it.
One of the biggest problems with 3D printing materials is that they’re basically built to fail. Traditionally materials have been chosen specifically because they have low melting temperatures or are weak. 3D printing is now entering a phase whereby the parts used increasingly must be strong, robust and functional for use in the real world. Delicate prototypes still have a place but increasingly the market will have to cater to direct digital manufacturing whereby final parts are produced on demand. One material showing us where thing are headed is Ultem 9085. This material, made by Saudi firm Sabic, is made for use on Stratasys FDM machines.
3D printing commercial aircraft parts
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