HP continues to expand the 3D printing market and joins the chemical giant BASF to launch new high-reuse PP (polypropylene) 3D printing materials. This highly versatile, durable, and chemically resistant material has been certified by HP's production-grade 3D printing system, achieving an ideal balance between performance and cost.
Ramon Pastor, interim president of 3D printing and digital manufacturing at Hewlett-Packard, said: "In response to the new crown epidemic crisis has made a watershed in the 3D printing industry. Hewlett-Packard and its partners have manufactured 2.3 million parts using 3D printing technology to bridge the supply chain. Gap, achieve localized production, and help medical practitioners on the front line. HP will continue to implement existing strategies to promote the development of innovative new 3D printing materials, solutions and partnerships."
Hewlett-Packard regards polypropylene PP material as a new milestone in the development of MultiJet Fusion 3D printing technology, because the cost of PP is much lower than that of PA12, the most commonly used material, which can save up to 30% of the cost and usually performs better. The problem of this material used in 3D printing before is mainly due to its special flat molding performance and difficult to match with engineering plastic parts, so HP spent a lot of energy to study the compatibility of MultiJet Fusion technology and PP materials.
HP stated that PP materials will open "breakthrough applications"
With the help of BASF, which specializes in the chemical industry, PP materials currently compatible with HP 3D printing technology are officially launched, and will be widely used in automotive, consumer products, industrial and medical applications. BASF's new highly reusable PP material promises to have the same performance as PP commonly used in injection molding and can be reused. PP has excellent chemical resistance, low moisture absorption and long-term durability, making it ideal for piping, fluid systems and containers. For example, common microwave lunch boxes, feeding bottles, lunch boxes, etc. are made of PP.
New materials, new applications
The new PP material was developed for the HP Jet Fusion 5200 series 3D printer, which provides high productivity and minimizes the waste of industrial-grade manufacturing. In addition to the breakthrough economy and performance, this new material can also recycle the remaining powder 100%, further improving the material utilization rate.
We know that materials are the key factors that determine the application of 3D printing. The material alliances established by HP include BASF, Evonik, Henkel, GKN and other chemical companies. In China, we also cooperate with Yanshan Petrochemical to continuously expand the scope of materials and applications. . The future application prospects of HP commercial 3D printing technology will continue to improve.