Engineers build 3D printer for making plastic parts

The machine, which will print and fuse fine polymeric powders to make complex parts on demand, is the intended result of the £750,000 SPRINT project funded partly by the Technology Strategy Board.

DMU has partnered with manufacturing specialists from MTT Technology, Renishaw and Parker KV to develop the machine’s core technology, an additive manufacturing process known as selective laser printing (SLP), for use with high-performance polymer materials such as the thermoplastic polyether ether ketone (PEEK).

Additive manufacturing techniques, which rely on a range of laser-based or advanced printing techniques to build up models layer by layer from scratch, are viewed as a potentially more economic alternative to subtractive production methods that remove sometimes as much as 95 per cent of raw material to craft a component. In depth coverage from The Engineer can be read here.

While the technology has been taken up by industry, its applications are limited. This is because current units are unable to compete with the quality and speed of conventional manufacturing techniques.