EDITOR’S CHOICE
EXPERTS IN THE FIELD
3DPRINTUK
3DPRINTUK Expands Material & Post Processing Capabilities
Anyone familiar with 3DPRINTUK will be
aware that to date the company’s 3D
printing services have been dedicated to
the selective laser sintering (SLS) process,
specifically with the PA2200 (nylon) material.
Nick Allen, 3DPRINTUK’s CEO and founder
explains how this was absolutely intentional.
“Over the past decade, as we have grown
the business organically and steadily, we
were committed to developing the very
best in-house process/material interface
that would in turn ensure the best possible
outcomes for our clients’ parts in terms of
quality, consistency and repeatability.”
NEW MATERIAL
This approach has led to the 3DPRINTUK
team becoming experts in their field, with
a profound understanding of the SLS
process, and is now allowing them to apply
their expertise into new areas, namely
through the introduction of PrimePartST
— a polyether block amide (PEBA) material
—designated 2301 —from the thermoplastic
elastomer (TPE) family of materials .
Allen continues: “This is a big day for us.
There were limiting factors in our previous
facility that prevented us from adding new
materials. Now with our new factory and with
our in-house developed order management
system, we look to introduce a number of
new offerings, with PEBA being the first of
these.”
PEBA 2301 exhibits flexible, rubber-like
Actual size:
A. 50mm x 50mm x 16mm
B. 13.5mm x 13.5mm x 41mm
C. 102mm x 102mm x 40mm
characteristics similar to TPU and other
TPE’s, but it is slightly harder and stronger.
PEBA 2301 also demonstrates good
chemical resistance, water resistance, long
term stability, with excellent detail resolution
possible and rubber-like fatigue behaviour.
The material comes in matt white, but PEBA
parts can easily be dyed if the natural finish
is not suitable for any application. One of the
key properties of PEBA 2301 is obviously its
rubber-like flexibility.
PrimePartST has a higher melting point
than most resin-based elastomers, and
is thus ideally suited to rugged end-use
applications. It is also suited for batch
production runs, and its elasticity makes it
an ideal material for key functions, including
anti-vibration and impact protection. Typical
applications include air ducts, encapsulation
components, handles, medical, seals and
gaskets, and sports equipment and footwear.
Allen continues, “With everything we offer,
we aim to be fully transparent. This new
material is not perfect. To be fair, what
material is? So understanding its limitations is
as important as maximizing its strengths.”
The extensive testing carried out on
the PEBA 2301 material (and the insight
garnered from it), means that the
3DPRINTUK team is now able to fully support
clients with applications that require the
flexible properties that this material offers.
Understanding both material limitations
and how to get the best from the machine /
material interface is a hallmark of the highquality
service standard that 3DPRINTUK
offers all of its clients.
NEW FINISH
In addition to the PEBA 2301 introduction,
3DPRINTUK is now also offering a shot
peening service for low, medium, and high
volumes of parts, following investment in
more hardware from DyeMansion in the form
of the PowerShot S system, which utilises
the proprietary PolyShot Surfacing (PSS)
process.
10 PECM Issue 46