igus has expanded its 3D printing material offering further with the introduction of a material suitable for Selective Laser Sintering (SLS). With the familiar wear resistance of the four already available tribo-filaments for Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM), the new iglidur I3-PL tribo-powder is for printing special 3D parts using the SLS technique.
In the test laboratory, plain bearings made from the new material have been compared with those printed from conventional SLS materials. After pivoting, rotating and linear testing, initial results indicate that the iglidur I3-PL parts are at least three times more wear resistant.
“Selective laser sintering produces a 3D part with better precision, compared to parts printed using the FDM technique," Robert Dumayne, director at igus, explained. "Another advantage of the new material is that the parts can achieve a much higher strength due to the pressure in the SLS method.”
An additional benefit of using the laser sintering is that no support structures are needed. This is because the loose powder, which is not melted by the laser, acts as the supporting material. Thus less finishing work is required on the components and the parts can be used directly.