SABIC Focuses on 3D Printing's Shift to Manufacturing

Plastics leader SABIC Innovative Plastics recently announced a global initiative to help its customers take advantage of additive manufacturing (AM) and also advance 3D printing (3DP) technologies in several application areas. To assist the industry in making the critical shift from functional prototypes to end-product manufacturing, the company is expanding its focus on application development, working at several different levels to bring together materials, design, processing, and part performance.

SABIC already has a head start. With one of the broadest portfolios available of engineering plastics, it has three 3D-printable materials also used outside of AM. ULTEM 9085 shows up widely in aerospace applications, since it meets aircraft industry and OEM-specific heat release and flame/smoke/toxicity requirements. It's also the basis of a material sold by Stratasys for use with its 3D printers. Another SABIC material is CYCOLAC MG94 resin, an ABS used by the maker community for fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printing.

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A third material for 3DP is the carbon fiber-reinforced plastic used to make the world's first 3D-printed car, the Strati EV, by Local Motors and Cincinnati Inc., on display recently in SABIC's booth at NPE 2015. That composite is LNP STAT KON AE003, in the LNP THERMOCOMP family of compounds based on ABS.

The latest version of the Strati car, a test build, is made from an updated version of the carbon fiber composite, Tony Cerruti, marketing director Americas for SABIC Innovative Plastics, told us. It's got a higher proportion of fiber for increased stiffness, about 20% compared to the first version's 15%.

"We're focusing on our materials technology in 3D printing, making sure that we're optimizing our resins to work across a wide variety of 3DP processes," he said. "Right now, we're working to optimize our materials within existing processes, and we're also trying to help develop processes with our partners." SABIC has already invested in several desktop and industrial printers, including Cincinnati Inc.'s Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM) printer used to print the Strati car, which will help facilitate process improvements in extrusion-based printing processes like fused deposition modeling (FDM).

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SABIC's increased focus on AM is because the company wants to take a more active role to help move the industry from prototyping to industrial production, Scott Fisher, technology and innovation director of application development for SABIC Innovative Plastics, told us. "We're leveraging our global application centers in the US, Europe, South America, and China to develop a cohesive plan around developing the technology," he said. The company's approach is holistic: not only does it have a broad range of materials, but also design and processing expertise, and state-of-the-art equipment.

In addition to its membership in America Makes, SABIC is also partnering with others in the 3D printing ecosystem outside that relationship, due to its global presence, said Fallon. "Three areas in 3D printing need to improve to make it work for end-production," he said. "These are improved part performance; adding other features to materials that may not be available today such as flame retardancy, UV stability, and certification for norms like FDA regulations; and methods to bring down the cost of building for serial production. Those include reducing material costs and secondary operations, and increasing print speed. We want to help solve all these as the industry advances."

As an example of working beyond just its capacity as a high-performance materials expert, SABIC recently collaborated with industry leaders in design and 3D printing to inspire future aircraft seat design and manufacturing methods. The result was an economy-class aircraft seat prototype printed in ULTEM 9085, also on display in SABIC's NPE booth. The company has several capabilities at its global technology centers that make this possible for several industries. These include part teardown, concept creation, mechanical design, CAE analysis, material evaluation, part performance simulation, testing and advanced processing techniques.

Ann R. Thryft is senior technology editor, materials & assembly, for Design News. She's been writing about manufacturing- and electronics-related technologies for 25 years, covering manufacturing materials & processes, alternative energy, machine vision, and all kinds of communications.