France-baed Kimya, an ARMOR Group company, has reinforced its collaboration with Stratasys with the purchase of two FDM technology-based Fortus 450mc 3D printers. The industrial additive manufacturing materials developer aims for further solutions to meet demanding applications across key sectors including rail, oil and gas.
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This follows the announcement that Kimya is providing two high-performance industrial AM materials for Stratasys customers. Kimya says that its ongoing partnership with Stratasys will benefit customers in two ways. First is the expanded materials development programme that it says offers a greater choice of advanced high-performance options to FDM printer customers. Kimya is also widening its service offering in France with the production-level Fortus 450mc platform, enabling it to provide functional final 3D printed parts for demanding AM applications.
The Kimya Factory will spearhead a newly created production arm to meet customers’ exacting 3D printed parts needs across key industrial sectors such as railway, oil and gas.
“We have been working closely with Stratasys for several years and steadfastly believe that when it comes to operating industrial-level systems to develop and test materials and their associated application scenarios, the company’s Fortus 3D printers are the best out there,” said Pierre-Antoine Pluvinage, Business Director, Kimya.
Pluvinage stated that the flame-resistant properties of the Kimya PC-FR material makes it a great fit for both passenger and commercial rail applications, ranging from small parts such as seat components to replacement parts.
“On behalf of manufacturers and OEMs within the railway sector, we are already looking at which parts can be produced for specific applications, a good example being ventilation grids for rail carriages,” said Pluvinage. “Working with Kimya PC-FR material on certain 3D printers would have been complicated, but we never had a problem with the Fortus.”
Pluvinage also said that the Kimya Kepstan PEKK-SC is a specially developed highly technical material designed to perform in the harshest of industry environments, including end-use oil and gas applications such as back-up rings.
The company says that the Kimya PC-FR polycarbonate material meets the EN45545 standard and the R1-HL2 fire hazard scale of the European railway industry. PEKK-SC, which is a semi-crystalline PEKK thermoplastic polymer based on Kepstan by Arkema. Kimya says that the material boasts excellent mechanical properties in addition to its resistance to elevated temperatures, abrasion, and chemicals including acids and hydrocarbons such as fuel and lubricants.
The company has also stated plans to further work closely with Stratasys to develop additional production-grade filaments for a variety of industrial sectors.
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