PPprint GmbH, a specialist for 3D printing of polypropylene (PP), is now offering a unique product portfolio for professional 3D printing of PP for consumer and industrial applications. The company’s latest innovation is the world’s first break-away support material for PP, which allows the simple and high-quality production of complex geometries and products with bridges, overhangs and openings.
For successful industrial 3D printing of polypropylene using established extrusion-based processes, such as Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF), Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), or Fused Granular Fabrication (FGF), three critical components are essential. First, the 3D printed material should have low warpage and high interlayer bonding strength. Second, the 3D printing build surface must allow reliable 3D printing of PP parts without the use of additional adhesives and a non-destructive and residue-free removal of the printed product. Third, a support material is needed to print complex structures. PPprint GmbH, the specialist for 3D printing with polypropylene, has now solved all of these three challenges.
“With the new support material ‘P-support 279’ which is now available on the market, the existing filament product line ‘P-filament-721’ and the 3d printing build surface ‘P-surface 141’, which was specially developed for PP, are not only supplemented but decisively further developed. PPprint GmbH is thus the only company worldwide to offer its customers a complete solution for successful industrial 3D printing with PP,” said Dr. Christian Neuber, CEO and Co-Founder of PPprint GmbH.
The support material ‘P-support 279’, which is specially designed for polypropylene, enables 3D printing of complex geometries and can be easily and cleanly removed manually from the printed part at elevated temperatures. The support material has high stiffness, low warpage, and excellent adhesion to the printed PP-part as well as the 3d printing build surface ‘P-surface 141’. In addition, it can be used advantageously to print support structures on polypropylene and rafts. ‘P-support 279’ does not absorb water and therefore requires no drying prior to 3D printing. In addition, as a break-away support material, ‘P-support 279’ has the advantage that no solvents need to be used and therefore no aqueous polymer-containing waste is generated during release. Furthermore, the thermoplastic break-away support material ‘P-support 279’ can be recycled as an energy source and as the material itself.
“In the technology field of additive manufacturing, the wide-ranging property profile of polypropylene offers enormous potential and the importance of PP in 3D printing is steadily increasing. This is mainly based on the diversified characteristics of PP with very good breaking strength, low density, excellent chemical resistance and recyclability. These advantages go far beyond the property profiles of materials classically used in the FDM process and enable the additive manufacturing of products that can be used in industry and medical technology,” explained Prof. Dr. Hans-Werner Schmidt, University of Bayreuth, Director of the Bavarian Polymer Institute and Co-Founder of PPprint GmbH.
The original article was published at 3dprintingmedia.network and can be found at: https://www.3dprintingmedia.network/ppprint-launches-break-away-support-material-for-pp-polypropylene-3d-printing/
More information about ‘P-support 279’: https://www.ppprint.de/product/p-support-279/?lang=en