Huntsman to Unveil Two Flexible 3D Printing Materials

Huntsman will unveil two new urethane-based 3D printing materials at Formnext in Frankfurt—IROPRINT F 80112 filament and IROPRINT R 1801 resin. The materials, which are soft and flexible, yet tough and strong, are the latest products to be announced in the company’s IROPRINT additive manufacturing platform, according to Huntsman.

IROPRINT F 80112 filament is a shore A78 thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and the softest, most flexible material in the IROPRINT range. Made from a polyester-based TPU, IROPRINT F 80112 filament is designed for fused filament fabrication (FFF) and other forms of extrusion-based printing, and is suitable for use in the production of footwear, hoses and gaskets, robotic grippers, seals and other rubber-like applications.

IROPRINT R 1801 resin is a radiation cured, one-component polyurethane-based resin that is optimized for easy processing via stereolithography (SLA) digital light processing (DLP) and other radiation-curing printing methods. Developed for the manufacture of footwear components and sports equipment plus other rubber-like products, IROPRINT R 1801 resin delivers a combo of elasticity and strength alongside a good resolution, high quality surface.

“Over the last three years we’ve taken an agile, open, collaborative approach to innovation—working closely with like-minded partners, customers and product designers to develop a range of materials that can help meet functionality, productivity, scalability and cost requirements,” says Stephane Peysson, global business development manager at Huntsman Polyurethanes. “Traditionally, conventional 3D printing materials are stiff and brittle, and largely aimed at prototyping projects or small-scale tasks. IROPRINT materials are different. Soft yet strong, and offering specific properties such as high rebound, they are optimized to help increase the adoption of 3D printing in mass manufacturing applications.”

As well as producing 3D printing materials for FFF, SLA and DLP printing methods, Huntsman has also developed IROPRINT P powders, a range of high performance, TPU materials for high speed sintering (HSS) and selective laser sintering (SLS) printing.  

Visit Huntsman at Formnext at Stand F20 in Hall 11.1, Nov. 19-22, 2019, in Frankfurt, Germany. 

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.