Formlabs has announced Nylon 11, a new nylon powder for the Fuse 1 3D printer. Nylon 11 is engineered for parts that need to take an impact – it is ductile, flexible and impact-resistant, making it ideal for functional prototypes and production parts.
The significant difference between Nylon 11 and Nylon 12 (another Formlabs material for the Fuse 1) is Nylon 11 has 40% elongation at break, while Nylon 12 has 11% elongation at break. This makes Nylon 11 better at resisting changes of shape without cracking. It’s more ductile so resists impacts and bending without breaking.
Nylon 11 helps fill the gap for prototyping and end-use applications that require higher ductility. It can withstand wear and tear without brittle failure. This makes it an ideal 3D printing filament for housings, enclosures, jigs, fixtures, clips and hinges.
Nylon 11 for prototypes
Nylon 11 perfectly mimics the mechanical and visual characteristics of traditional nylon 11. It’s ductile, flexible and highly wear-resistant.
Nylon 11 is useful for printing thin curved surfaces and thin walls, as well as interior joints for machines and devices that have bending forces.
Nylon 11 can be used to make hinges, clips, snaps and thin-walled ducts to any specification. It can also be used to produce jigs, fixtures and housings. It prints with a soft, matte appearance, and is flexible to compress under stress and bounce back.
Prototypes made from Nylon 11 can withstand drops, impacts, and bending. Choose it if you need high ductility in your prototypes.
Nylon 11 for production parts
Nylon 11 enables the in-house production of ductile nylon parts. It is an excellent material for printing replacement parts of all shapes and sizes.
You would choose Nylon 11 over Nylon 12 for production parts when you need to manufacture parts that are even tougher and need to survive impacts. Nylon 11 produces reliable, tough parts that are extremely resilient.
The professional-quality finish of Nylon 11 is ideal for production parts whether they are hidden or consumer-facing. You can manufacture any type of enclosure, housing, hinge, jig or fixture with comparable quality to soft rubber.
Getting started with the Fuse 1
The Fuse 1 uses Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) technology to manufacture complex and intricate parts from nylon powder. SLS technology uses a high-powered laser to selectively ‘sinter’ material as opposed to a mechanical print head as used in FFF technology. The laser is able to achieve a greater range of motion and scale.
The Fuse 1 has a 165 x 165 x 300 mm (6.5 x 6.5 x 11.8 in) build volume and the maximum build speed is 10 mm / hour (0.39 in / hour). This enables rapid prototyping at scale with a simplified workflow thanks to integrated technology.
Additionally, Formlabs offers the Fuse Sift, a post-processing system for the Fuse 1 to provide you with an end-to-end SLS workflow. The Fuse Sift is an all-in-one powder recovery system that extracts, recovers, stores and mixes nylon powder for you.
To find out more about the Fuse 1 and new Nylon 11 powder, request a Formlabs sample, call us on 01765 694 007 or send us an email at sales@additive-x.com.