New filament extrusion line for 3D printing

AIMPLAS has implemented a new extrusion line to obtain filaments from a wide range of thermoplastic materials that can be used later to print parts by means of Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D printing technology.

This filament extrusion line is equipped with a single screw extruder, a controlled cooling bath, a haul-off unit and a winding system, allowing to obtain rods with thicknesses of 1.75mm and 2.85mm, although their versatility makes possible that it can be modified for other thicknesses.

Thanks to this new equipment, the Plastics Technology Centre is already able to process conventional, technical and biodegradable plastics, elastomers and modified materials (ABS, PE, PP, TPU, PLA, among other), what means new capacities when carrying out R&D projects. This is the case of identifying commercial materials that can be used to produce filaments or developing customised and optimised materials by means of physical or chemical modification to reach the requirements defined. It will even allow modifying materials to get functional properties, such as conductivity, solubility, antimicrobial, etc. with applications in different sectors; carrying out processing assessments when manufacturing filaments of materials to be used, both commercial and new developments; and optimising processing parameters for commercial filaments.

3D printers

The filaments extrusion line that has been recently incorporated is complemented by a complete equipment of 3D printers to produce prototypes. AIMPLAS is able to obtain designs by using flexible or rigid filaments of materials with a melt temperature up to 350ºC. The different parameters that take part in the 3D printing process affect part’s aspect and final properties significantly. AIMPLAS is going to expand its printing equipment in the coming months to meet the needs, challenges and demand of the market.