3D printer manufacturer Markforged has released a new material called “Onyx”.
Onyx is an all-new material designed specifically for customer-facing assemblies, and for use with the Markforged Mark Two Enterprise assembly.
It is for engineers and designers who want stiffer parts that look good.
Based on a tough nylon, Onyx provides parts with a stiffness equal to or greater than any thermoplastic available for professional 3D printers. The mechanical properties are impressive, with Onyx boasting a flexural strength of 81 MPa and a tensile stress at break percentage of 30 MPa. To put that into perspective, Tough Nylon only has a flexural strength of 32 MPa.
And so with Onyx, Markforged users are now able to 3D print parts that are exceptionally resilient – without composite reinforcement, and crucially, parts that are suitable for customer-facing assemblies.
Engineers can, of course, use Onyx on its own or they can embed continuous strands of carbon fibre, fibreglass or Kevlar into parts to create end-use parts and prototypes that are exceptionally strong and durable.
Making nylon look good
To look at it, you wouldn’t think Onyx was a nylon at all. It is, however Onyx has a unique appearance. It gets its strength and its appearance from chopped carbon, which is embedded into the material. That chopped carbon adds strength and stiffness to the bond and a finish that’s extremely professional.
Parts printed with Onyx are a deep jet black and matte, however the chopped carbon catches the light in a way that adds lots of depth to parts. It also adds lots of texture in the form of straight, continuous lines. These look incredible in the real-world, as you can see in the image of a printed part below:
And here’s another image, this time of an air intake filter printed with Onyx:
As you can see, parts have a lot of visual appeal. The finish is stunning and ideally suited to customer-facing assemblies. As previously mentioned, Onyx is a strong material that can be used on its own, or it can be further reinforced with embedded continuous strands of a composite, such as fibreglass, carbon fibre and Kevlar.
Onyx has a heat deflection temperature of 145°C, so it can only be printed with the Markforged Mark Two Enterpise model, which has a special extruder. You can get your Enterprise kit from us at this page.
About Markforged
Founded in 2013, Markforged made waves in the 3D printing industry when they launched the world’s first-ever 3D printer capable of printing with composites – the Mark One. With the ability to print fibreglass, carbon fibre and Kevlar, the Mark One offered a new way for engineers to create robust end-use parts.
Two years on, Markforged launched a new 3D printer, the Mark Two, which is a significant upgrade over the Mark One. The Mark Two is faster and more reliable than the Mark One, with the ability to reinforce nylon parts 15x smaller than before. Markforged also launched an Enterprise model capable of printing with high-temp fibreglass, thanks to a special extruder that can print fibre materials with a heat deflection temperature of 140°C.
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