An unrivaled portfolio of solutions
In sectors such as aeronautics, health, cosmetics, and sports, 3D printing is now being used in a wide range of mass-produced applications that fully leverage the unique features of additive manufacturing: freedom of design and customization, speed of implementation, and savings on raw materials use. Arkema, which adopted this future-focused technology from the outset, is developing a unique range of materials and solutions to support its customers and partners in all innovative fields, within a market expanding 30% year-on-year.
Leading the way in all technologies
Arkema’s range of complementary specialty polymers—Bio-based Rilsan® polyamide 11, Orgasol® polyamide 12, Kynar® PVDF, Kepstan® PEKK— offer high-performance solutions for diverse needs in 3D plastic printing including heat resistance, mechanical resistance, hardness, flexibility, competitiveness, and durability. The Group also offers an internationally recognized range of specialty resins and photoinitiators for UV curing, with Sartomer’s N3xtDimension® solutions; enabling fast printing speeds, high accuracy, transparency and ability to make highly complex hollow structures. These unrivaled materials enable Arkema to fulfill the very specific needs of its customers with each of the three major additive manufacturing processes: selective laser sintering (SLS), UV curing (SLA, DLP etc.), and fused filament fabrication (FFF), also called fused deposition modeling.
UV curing of liquid resins
A proactive R&D strategy
Arkema entered the world of 3D printing in 1988 with the first rapid prototyping applications, and was quick to detect the full industrial potential of additive manufacturing.
The Group has made this market one of the key drivers of its innovation policy and developed a considerable R&D effort at its three dedicated centers of excellence: King of Prussia (Pennsylvania, United States) for filament extrusion, Serquigny (France) for selective laser sintering, and Exton (Pennsylvania, United States) for photocuring. The Group’s engineers have connected printing machine manufacturers with the needs of end users to develop new material grades — and the manufacturing and supply chain processes that go with them — to support an increasingly diverse range of applications.
