Digital manufacturer Protolabs is expanding its additive manufacturing capabilities with the introduction of the PAx Natural material series. These new materials, PAx Smooth Natural and PAx Vapour Smooth Natural, have been specially developed for selective laser sintering (SLS) and offer a wide range of applications in various industries. Both materials are based on a polyamide that is characterised by toughness, flexibility and high long-term stability.
PAx Smooth Natural, a natural white polyamide, is particularly versatile and is suitable for the production of prototypes and end-user parts. Its mechanical properties make it ideal for applications such as film hinges, snap-fit connections and medical orthoses.
“Over several years, PAx Natural has been successfully tested for its stability and durability, including fluid compatibility and chemical compatibility, and together with the launch we can now announce that the material is one of the best performing SLS materials with impressive long-term internal stability,” announces Andrea Landoni, EMEA 3DP Product Manager, at Protolabs.
In addition, the parts produced with PAx Smooth Natural offer a smooth surface that comes close to that of injection-moulded plastics and achieve precise tolerances of ± 0.30 mm for parts up to 200 mm in size. The material is also translucent, which makes it interesting for applications in the field of optics.
In addition to PAx Smooth Natural, Protolabs also offers PAx Natural Vapour Smooth. This material differs primarily in its higher light transmission, which is achieved through a special vapour smoothing process. It is therefore particularly suitable for liquid displays and optical applications, while it has similar mechanical properties to the Smooth variant.
“Both materials – PAx Smooth Natural and PAx Natural Vapour Smooth – are used in particular in the automotive industry, medical technology and computer electronics,” explains Landoni. “It should also be mentioned that the production of the parts only requires a low printing temperature, which means that the finished parts can be delivered more quickly.”
Both materials are widely used in the automotive, medical technology and electronics industries. Protolabs emphasises that the manufacturing temperature for both materials is low, resulting in faster production. With these new material options, Protolabs offers its customers more flexibility and support in realising complex design ideas that were previously considered technically challenging.
“With our ever-expanding portfolio of materials, we want to offer our customers the opportunity to turn any idea into reality – even those ideas that initially seem impossible,” concludes Landoni.
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