Making Profit from Waste Material in Polymer Powder Bed Fusion

As the 3D printing/additive manufacturing industry re-adjusts itself to move beyond the hype and into an era of pragmatic growth, we can reflect on many learnings from the last 10+ years.  One clear learning is that material development, especially for polymer powder bed fusion (PBF) technologies, is very difficult.  Global leading polymer businesses have invested significant resources and intellect to adapt their materials to the needs of AM processes with little progress to show for their efforts. At Stratasys, with SAF technology, we have taken a subtly different approach – we have endeavored to adapt the manufacturing process around the needs of the materials.  This may sound simple, but it has required different teams of researchers with different backgrounds and experiences with Polymer PBF, to come together to produce an outcome that looks set to change the way this part of the industry operates.

So, what does SAF do that is different, and how has SAF adapted the process of the materials?  The answer lies in thermal consistency; SAF applies a unique process sequence/architecture that reduces thermal variations, reduces temperatures required and gently melts the powder from which parts are made.  These three unique aspects allow SAF machines to successfully process waste powder from other Polymer PBF processes to create valuable parts free of the visual defects incurred by those PBF processes that don’t enable the same reductions of temperature, variability and speed of melting.

The consequence of this unique processing architecture of SAF is the ability to make parts with a cost and level of sustainability that is set to change the status quo in Polymer PBF.  We refer to this solution as SAF ReLife™ as it gives new life to otherwise “dead” material. As with all technological advancements, the proof really needs to come from 3^rd parties and some of these are detailed below.

On the topics of economics, and more specifically total cost of ownership (TCO) it is clear that using 0% virgin powder reduces parts cost.; Wehl Green has made use of SAF ReLife™ with 100% waste PA12 powder from Laser Sintering systems to create and sell a wide range of parts with total cost per part being up to 20% lower than using standard powder feedstock of a mix of virgin and used powder.

In terms of sustainability, Fraunhofer LCA recently performed a detailed Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) study that demonstrated up to 90% lower carbon footprint using SAF ReLife™ vs standard PA12.

So where are these parts made from waster powder being used?  The answer is that SAF ReLife™ parts are used routinely for a wide range of applications, from prototyping to industrial.  An eye-catching example from the sustainability perspective is where Solidus uses SAF ReLife™ parts as tools for cardboard packaging production where the packaging is itself up to 25 times more recyclable than conventional plastic packaging.

SAF ReLife™ is due for commercial release in 2025 and, with the game-changing benefits it provides, is set to ensure that the Polymer PBF industry can grow with sustainability and economics at its core.

Neil Hopkinson will discuss this and more in person at Additive Manufacturing Strategies in New York City, Feb 4-6, 2025.