Wanhua launches 3D printable PP powder material

Recently, with Wanhua's launch of PP powder material WANFAB® PP700N, PP will enter a new application field - 3D printing

1.

3D printing technology, also known as additive manufacturing technology, is an advanced manufacturing technology that originated in the 1980s, integrating machinery, computers, numerical control and materials

The basic principle of this technology is to use point, line or surface as the basic unit for layer-by-layer manufacturing according to the two-dimensional cross-section information obtained by slicing of three-dimensional solid parts, and finally obtain solid parts or prototypes

Image source: Wanhua Micro Vision

Compared with the traditional subtractive (such as cutting) and equal material (such as forging) manufacturing methods, it can realize the manufacture of complex structural parts that cannot or are difficult to achieve by traditional methods, and greatly reduce the processing procedures, shorten the processing cycle, and eliminate materials.

3 key elements of 3D printing:

1.

2.

3.

2.

At present, the most mature 3D printing materials are mainly resin plastics, which cannot fully meet the needs of high-end industrial 3D printing.

Due to the good thermal fluidity, rapid cooling adhesion, and high mechanical strength of plastic materials, they have been rapidly applied and developed in the field of 3D printing manufacturing

3D printing technology can be achieved through a variety of processes, including Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Ultraviolet Light Curing (SLA),

Schematic diagram of selective laser sintering SLS process

Image source: Srivatsan T , Sudarshan T .

The materials used in the SLS process are: wax powder, plastic powder, ceramic powder, metal powder and other powder materials

As one of the five general polymer materials, polypropylene (PP) has the advantages of low density, high strength, heat resistance, good insulation, stable chemical properties and low price, and has great application potential in the field of 3D printing

However, PP has a large shrinkage in the process of melt crystallization, and macroscopically, the volume shrinkage of the part is very large, which causes PP to warp and deform easily during the SLS process, and the forming accuracy of the product is poor; and the toughness of the formed product is low, easily damaged

3.
PP extrusion 3D printing material

Solving the pain points of the industry and focusing on the development of new materials has always been the business philosophy of Wanhua Chemical
.
For the SLS process, in addition to the widely promoted TPU and PA powder materials, Wanhua Chemical has recently launched a PP powder material - WANFAB® PP700N
.
The PP powder has the characteristics of high sphericity, moderate particle size and narrow particle size distribution.
In addition, the powder has high fluidity and smooth powder bed spread, which gives SLS printing good printing accuracy
.

Wanhua Chemical WANFAB® PP700N Polypropylene Powder

WANFAB® PP700N adopts the material formula developed by Wanhua, which can effectively solve the problem of warpage and deformation during the SLS printing process, and has high printing accuracy; the elongation at break of the product can reach 20%, and the toughness is good
.
In addition, the special combination of additives makes the PP powder have excellent thermal stability, which can be recycled many times, which greatly reduces the printing cost
.

4.
The prosperity of 3D printing technology will boost the development of high-end polyolefin

According to Wohlers statistics, after nearly a decade of rapid development, the global 3D printing market reached US$7.
3 billion in 2017, and IDC predicts that the global output value will reach US$28.
9 billion in 2020
.
It is foreseeable that in the next ten years, the global additive manufacturing industry will still be in a period of rapid growth with huge development potential
.

Image credit: Wohlers

At present, China's 3D printing has become increasingly mature and the market is growing rapidly
.
In 2017, the scale of China's additive manufacturing industry has exceeded 10 billion yuan, and the Prospective Industry Research Institute predicts that the scale of China's 3D printing market will reach about 50 billion yuan in 2022
.

Image source: Qianzhan Industry Research Institute

Since 3D printing manufacturing technology has completely changed the methods and principles of the traditional manufacturing industry, which is a subversion of the traditional manufacturing mode, 3D printing materials have become the main bottleneck restricting the development of 3D printing, and also the key point and difficulty of 3D printing breakthrough innovation.
Only by developing more new materials can the application field of 3D printing technology be expanded
.

With the further development of 3D printing technology, the performance of traditional plastics will be greatly improved, and relying on the strong rapid fused deposition and low temperature bonding properties of plastics will be widely used in the field of 3D printing manufacturing
.

For polyolefin materials, this field is not to be missed
.
Wanhua's latest PP powder material - WANFAB® PP700N can be said to be a good start.
In addition, it has also launched a series of material solutions for different 3D printing processes: WANFAB-FT (TPU wire), WANFAB- PU (TPU powder), WANFAB-PN (nylon powder), WANFAB-UV (photosensitive resin), WANFAB-PP (PP powder),
etc.

It is believed that under the tuyere of 3D printing, more polyolefin manufacturers will enter this field to develop and produce products that meet the requirements of 3D printing, which will also boost China's development in the field of high-end polyolefins
.