Solid Concepts Adds High Temperature PEEK to Laser Sintering Materials Portfolio

According to a report published in April 2013 on Industrial-Lasers.com, USA-based selective laser sintering (SLS) service provider Solid Concepts is now successfully working with PEEK HP3, a grade of PEEK from German additive manufacturing machinery and materials manufacturer EOS. EOS offer the only available laser sintering machine in the world, the EOSINT P 800, for processing high temperature materials, including its own PEEK brand PEEK HP3.

According to the report, PEEK is the first true high performance polymer to be offered by Solid Concepts with additive manufacturing technologies. Parts created with PEEK are compliant with flammability requirements for aircraft cushions FAR 25.853 as well as the US Underwriters Laboratory (UL) plastics flammability standard UL 94 V0, and have very good chemical and hydrolysis resistance.

The addition of PEEK to Solid Concepts’s SLS technology offerings adds the full benefits of complex geometries with high strength and heat deflection. Additive manufacturing of PEEK maintains the same high performance properties as moulding, extrusion and machining applications such as high stiffness and temperature resistance up to 240°C (464°F).

Prototypes and production parts built with PEEK are said to not only withstand chemical deterioration and damage, but also maintain good flexural and compressive strength at temperatures well beyond the operational range of standard nylon-based SLS parts.

Solid Concepts provides rapid prototyping and custom manufacturing services, with capabilities in PolyJet, stereolithography (SLA), Z-Corp, SLS, direct metal laser sintering (DMLS), fused deposition modelling (FDM), CNC models and patterns, QuantumCast advanced cast urethanes, and composites.