Verbatim, which is part of the Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Group, announces its latest 3D material – Polypropylene (PP) – offering high levels of chemical, heat and fatigue resistance and good hinge properties.

Manufactured in Japan, Verbatim’s new PP filament will give users opportunities to make 3D printed prototypes and products for the automotive, pharmaceutical and toy industries, and particularly where the objects are exposed to chemically affected environments. When extruded, the Verbatim PP material provides good mechanical properties of stiffness and tensile strength and delivers a smooth surface finish.

The process of prototyping is key to the development of any new product, and now with 3D printing you’re able to roll out prototype after prototype without having to employ an expensive third party.

This not only makes the process of prototyping faster – it saves money, and ultimately enables you to get a product to market more quickly.

3D printing, where you turn a computer-based model into a physical object by ‘printing’ it layer by layer, is becoming increasingly popular, for product designers, design engineers, manufacturers, hobbyists and more.
 
3D printing enables us to create complex shapes and structures that traditional machines typically struggle with. It allows us to combine raw materials in new ways, and because there’s no need for large upfront tooling investment, it can make one-off and small-scale production runs commercially viable. Add to this its green credentials – there’s less waste than with traditional manufacturing – and it’s clear why there’s so much buzz around 3D printing.

One area where it’s attracting particular interest is with design engineers, for whom the possibility of cheap and rapid prototyping is now a reality. 3D-printed prototyping has the power to transform and accelerate their working processes, better understand their designs and produce superior end products. Previously, the investment needed to set up and tune manufacturing machinery would have made this type of frequent prototyping prohibitively expensive for many.

Verbatim, which is part of the Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Group, announces two new filament materials – PET and high performance PLA – for use with widely available fused fabrication filament (FFF) 3D printers and offering improved versatility, transparency and print quality. Manufactured in Japan, the highly advanced materials will expand the company’s range of 3D printing options available to product designers, design engineers, manufacturers, hobbyists and more.  

The new PET and high performance PLA filaments will be demonstrated in public for the first time on the Verbatim’s stand (Stand H12) at the TCT Show in Birmingham NEC, UK, held between 28-29 September. The new filaments complement the company’s existing portfolio of top grade ABS, PLA and ultra flexible PRIMALLOY™ (TPE) filaments. Also on display will be two other filaments that are soon to be launched: BVOH, a water-soluble support material; and PP (Polypropylene), a commonly used tough and flexible plastic.