Solvay (Brussels / Belgium; www.solvay.com) has added two of its high-performance polymers – the 10% carbon fibre-filled “KetaSpire” polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and neat “Radel” polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) – to e-Xstream Engineering’s (Luxembourg; www.e-xstream.com) "Digimat" simulation software for additive manufacturing (AM).

The two products are included in the software's new release "Digimat 2019.0". They complement the neat KetaSpire PEEK AM filament already available on the Digimat AM platform. The software is said to offer highly accurate, predictive modelling data for Solvay’s AM filaments over a range of critical characteristics, including warpage and residual stress, to help designers and engineers reduce the risk of defects before printing. Digimat AM allows customers to simulate the printing process and predict the thermomechanical behaviour of 3D-printed designs in order to increase the chances of successful first time prints.

As a result of the partnership between Solvay and e-Xstream parent company MSC Software (Newport Beach, California / USA; www.mscsoftware.com), the gap in simulation engineering between high-performance polymers and demanding printing processes such as fused filament fabrication (FFF) is bridged.

In separate news, Solvay has announced it has entered into a research collaboration agreement with start-up company Aerosint (Liege / Belgium; www.aerosint.com) to develop an economically viable selective laser sintering (SLS) printing process for high-performance polymers.

Polymers such as KetaSpire and “Ryton” polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) have the potential to open new AM avenues for demanding applications, but their adoption with powder fusion technologies such as SLS currently remains limited. To address this, Aerosint is developing a selective powder deposition system that enables full 3-dimensional control over material placement in powder bed fusion printing processes.