www.3ders.org

May 18, 2017 | By Benedict

Online 3D printing company Sculpteo has introduced a new 3D printing material. CarbonMide, a fine black plastic polyamide powder (PA12) reinforced with carbon fiber, reportedly provides excellent stiffness, strength, and resistance.

Last week was a busy one for 3D printing materials, with RAPID + TCT churning out more filaments each day than anyone could reasonably keep up with. The giant 3D printing event may have closed its doors, but—luckily for us—the spool party appears to be continuing, with Sculpteo yesterday lifting the lid on an exciting-sounding carbon fiber PA12 filament.

CarbonMide is, according to Sculpteo, a fine black plastic polyamide powder (PA12), reinforced with carbon fiber and made for selective laser sintering (SLS) metal 3D printers. It’s similar to the company’s Solid Black Plastic Polyamide material, but with the additional advantage of being lightweight.

Described as having excellent stiffness, along with high strength and resistance, CarbonMide is purportedly suited to “many mechanical, electrical, medical, and ornamental applications,” and is particularly useful for aerodynamic components, especially for cars and other vehicles.

Of course, Sculpteo being a 3D printing bureau, you can’t exactly get your hands on a spool of CarbonMide; you’ll have to send your 3D model to the company instead. For most makers, however, that’s just fine, since metal 3D printers like Sculpteo’s EOS Formiga P 396 are unlikely to end up in anyone’s home or personal workspace.

Sculpteo adds that its new carbon fiber 3D printing material has “excellent resistance” to chemicals such as hydrocarbons, aldehydes, ketones, mineral bases, salts, alcohols, and fuels.

Color printing fanatics can look away now, because CarbonMide is available in black only, but the material does come in two finishing options: Raw or Polished. The Raw option gives a sandblasted but unpolished 3D printed part, while the slightly more expensive Polished option comes…well…polished. The surface will be smoother, though “layers will still be visible,” especially on round objects.

CarbonMide is available in a Raw (above) or Polished finish

Sculpteo says the layer thickness of its new CarbonMide material is 150 µm, adding that it can be printed with an accuracy of ± 0.5% with a limit of ± 0.5 mm. Size limits for 3D printed parts are 600 x 335 x 335 mm (Raw) or 180 x 150 x 150 mm (Polished).

The company also points out that the orientation of the material’s fibers can affect the strength of the print. The Z axis is the least resistant (see full data sheet below), so makers should orient their model with that advice in mind. The wall thickness of a 3D model also affects its rigidity or flexibility.

Parts 3D printed in CarbonMide are expected to ship in 16 business days. Pricing is based on a series of factors, including total volume, object size, and bounding box.

CarbonMide PA12-CF features:

• Extreme stiffness
• Excellent strength and hardness
• Lightweight
• Electric conductivity

 

 

Posted in 3D Printing Materials

 

 

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