New carbon fiber filament brings 3D printing closer to industrial production

Royal DSM (Geleen, The Netherlands) on Sept. 19 launched its new carbon fiber filled grade PA6/66 filament Novamid ID1030 CF10 for 3D printing. Despite the low carbon fiber loading of 10%,  it reportedly produces functional prototyping and industrial parts with properties close to what is usually achievable only by injection molding while matching the fast printing of unreinforced plastics.

“FFF [fused filament fabrication] technology is growing rapidly, for use in both prototyping and industrial applications,” says Hugo da Silva, vice president of Additive Manufacturing at DSM. “With high-performance materials like our new carbon fiber filament, manufacturers can take it into many more applications like functional prototyping as well as durable and structural industrial parts for harsh environments.”

Novamid ID1030 CF10 3D is designed for printing structural parts which are said to be stronger, stiffer and tougher with higher tensile strength and modulus, high dimensional stability and free of warpage. These mechanical properties and smooth appearance make the carbon fiber filament well-suited for a range of applications that require robust performance possibly at elevated temperatures. Possible applications include automotive, sports gear, manufacturing jigs and fixtures, and medical braces and prosthetics. 

The material can be printed on standard desktop fused filament fabrication (FFF) machines with a hardened nozzle. Tests have shown that users can run their printers at the same speeds as with unreinforced plastics, while achieving improved strength and toughness. The material has been tested on several open FFF platforms, including on GermanRepRap and the Ultimaker S5.