As people in the 3D printing industry are increasingly becoming aware, materials are probably the single most important determining factor in the print job’s end result. A prototype can only be as good as the materials that make it up and of all the aspects playing a role in causing error accumulation and deviation from the original designs, the raw materials have the most impact.
Italian specialist, Keytech Solutions, is launching a new range of polymer based filaments that are still not widely used in 3D printing, although they purport to demonstrate a combination of characteristics such as high mechanical strength, low moisture absorption and high temperature tolerance, that make them particularly feasible for prototyping. The new product range spans across five different types of polymers: Polykey PLA HS, PLA HS NX, Polykey PPGF, PPMF and Polykey PA6GFV0.
Although there are many choices as to what material one can use to create a particular item, most have specific disadvantages that are at the same time tied to the benefits. For example, while ABS polymers are stiff and heat-resistant, they require high printing temperatures and can exhibit great discrepancies in the strength of a homogeneous item.
According to the tests performed by Keytech, all the new filaments showed exceptional testing results compared to standard PA, PLA and ABS materials in a series of different factors, with up to 85% better average heat deflection temperature, up to 180% more flexibility and 100% less shrinkage. As far as moisture is concerned, the PPGF and PPMF materials aren’t hygroscopic so they present superior moisture absorption avoidance, making them ideal for related usage. The others show medium absorption rates, but are more than acceptable for current field standards.
Another advantage of the Keytech filaments, according to the company, is their great coherence and homogeneity when it comes to processing and preparation of materials. You won’t have to use different temperature values when changing from one filament to another as all five of them can be printed at similar temperatures. If this will suffice as motivation to move thousands of 3D printers away from standard ABS and PLA remains to be seen, what is certain is that materials and their evolution will continue to play an ever more important role in the 3D printing industry.
