On the one hand, the rapidly evolving market of additive manufacturing and, on the other, the RadiciGroup High Performance Polymers business area with its extensive experience in polymer compounding and recognized skill at optimizing materials to meet the requirements of various applications: those were the factors that brought about the development of Radilon® Adline, a range of 3D printing filaments based on special polyamide grades from the Group's Radilon® family.
RadiciGroup has chosen the Formnext fair – which took place in Frankfurt from 16 to 19 November – as the launchpad for its new proposals aimed at the needs of 3D applications. Indeed, Formnext is the international meeting point for suppliers and users of industrial 3D printing.
Radilon® Adline products are characterized by their high performance and are suitable not only for prototyping, but also for the manufacture of functional parts. They have also been tested with different open 3D printing systems to ensure the ease of material processing.
“The technical requirements of additive manufacturing technology are special and not so simple to meet with semicrystalline polymers,” explained Chiara Devasini, marketing & development project leader of RadiciGroup High Performance Polymers. “That is why the entire first phase in the development of the 3D printing project was dedicated to identifying the polyamides meeting such requirements. Specifically, we opted to focus on materials for fused filament fabrication (FFF) and succeeded in
developing high technical content products based on PA6/66 copolyamides with a fusion point of 195°C, which makes them suited to most 3D printers.”
As of today, the RadiciGroup portfolio comprises Radilon® Adline CS and Radilon® Adline CS CF. The former is a PA6/66 copolymer featuring high ease of use with 3D printing technology and good surface appearance; it ensures effective interlayer adhesion and low warpage. The CS CF version is carbon reinforced, which not only ensures ease of printing but also provides the printed parts with higher performance in terms of modulus, stiffness and mechanical properties.
The goal of RadiciGroup High Performance Polymers is the development of innovative materials with greater focus on reducing environmental impact. New Radilon® Adline grades based on PA6 and polyamides obtained from renewable source materials
are currently under development at RadiciGroup High Performance Polymers.
