A new reactive polyetherimide, xPEI, has been engineered for SLS 3D printing of high-temperature amorphous components
Developed by BlueSky Polymers, Insight Polymers and Advanced Laser Materials, parts printed with Reactive Polyetherimide (xPEI) have some of the highest heat resistance, chemical resistance and tensile strength of any SLS thermoplastic.
PEI has historically not been suitable for SLS 3D printing of amorphous high-temperature parts due to high melt viscosity and limited interlayer diffusion.
“The xPEI polymer is targeted for parts that need strength, stiffness and impact resistance of a PEI polymer but are too difficult to produce by injection moulding or subtractive manufacturing,” said Matt Torosian, sales and market development manager at Insight Polymers.
The new xPEI polymer maintains the isotropic properties typical of a PEI polymer in high-value, high-temperature production, which, when followed by a controlled thermal cure, yields a consistent mechanical performance and reduces part variability.
“You can be a little more creative and design significantly more complex parts, given the nature of SLS compared to injection moulding and subtractive manufacturing.”
“xPEI SLS-printed parts allow you to get similar part anisotropy comparable to IM and at lower material usage compared to substrative manufacturing, since SLS printing does not have the machining waste,” said Insight Polymers director of innovation Jeremy Lizotte.
The development of xPEI for SLS printing offers design and process flexibility for high-temperature parts, giving designers more freedom to reap the benefits of SLS when designing for high temperatures.
