Almost a year after debuting a new partnership with materials company Covestro (ETR: 1COV), 3D printer manufacturer voxeljet (NASDAQ: VJET) announced that it will now offer on-demand 3D printed parts made from a jointly developed thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). The flexible material, which is characterized by its durable elasticity, damping properties, and high-impact protection, was made to be used with voxeljet’s High Speed Sintering (HSS) process, which combines existing additive technologies selective laser sintering and binder jetting for volume production of plastic components as a viable alternative to injection molding.
Alongside the standard nylon polymer PA12, TPU is one of the polymers increasingly in demand for 3D polymer printing. In filament form, the flexible material has proven itself for decades in the production of shoe soles, as it is highly resistant to wear…