XJet Debuts New Ceramic Material and Soluble Support Material

Additive manufacturing company XJet unveiled a new ceramic material, alumina, at formnext, which took place in mid-November in Frankfurt, Germany. Following rigorous dialogue with the industry, alumina was chosen for development because of its wide use as a technical ceramic and evident market demand to see parts produced with XJet NanoParticle Jetting (NPJ) production, the company says. Offering electrical insulation, high mechanical strength, high compressive strength and high hardness, it differs from zirconia in that it has lower wear resistance, making it simple to machine and refine both before and after firing.

XJet also announced its entry into Italy with a new Carmel 1400 AM System to be installed at Beam-IT, Italy’s largest additive manufacturing bureau, before the end of the year. The latest order represents the growth of XJet’s presence to seven countries across the globe.

“XJet is devoted to the ongoing development of this technology and to serve the AM market,” says XJet CEO Hanan Gothait, “The recent opening of our more than $10m Additive Manufacturing Centre is a testament to this, as the largest facility dedicated entirely to development of new materials and applications in metal and ceramic AM. The new alumina material devolpment was sped up thanks to the availability of dedicated systems for this purpose in the last few weeks.”

According to Gothait one such development has been in support materials. Overhangs and cavities are supported throughout the NPJ build process by a soluble support material, which has recently been created to fit the soon-to-be-available stainless steel material. Fine detail and complex geometries can be created with no concern they will be harmed in the bath support-removal process.

Sources: Press materials received from the company.

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