Print strong, abrasion-resistant parts yourself with the new igus iglidur I190 tribo-filament from Treotham
Plastics specialist igus has developed an easy-to-machine, all-rounder filament, the iglidur I190. Known for its great strength, the material is suitable for manufacturing wear-resistant parts quickly and cost effectively in special dimensions.
The tribologically optimised material requires no lubrication or maintenance and can be used with all commercially available 3D printers with heated printing plates. It is remarkable for its great mechanical flexural strength (80 MPa).
In jig construction or assembly aids, users are always looking for sliding, wear-resistant special parts that optimise production operation. The parts are often quick to design, but custom manufacture with injection moulding or mechanical processing involves a great deal of cost and effort and is very expensive for small batches. More and more companies are therefore manufacturing their special parts on 3D printers.
"iglidur I190 is remarkable primarily for its great strength, making even delicate structures in the printed component strong," says Tom Krause, Head of the Additive Manufacturing department at igus GmbH.
iglidur I190 is also suited to the design of multi-material sliding components because it combines very well with very rigid materials. The new lubrication-free filament can be machined very easily on all commercially available closed 3D printers with heated printing plates. The printed parts can even be used at temperatures of up to 90°C.
The new material proved its durability in a test in igus's 3,800 square metre in-house laboratory. A 3D printed iglidur I190 plain bearing was tested against bearings made of ABS and polyamide from additive manufacture and against turned and injection-moulded bearings made of POM and nylon.
The results showed that the printed igus bearing had up to 50 times the abrasion resistance of the bearings made of standard plastics. iglidur I190 did well in internal competition as well – 80 to 46 MPa of flexural strength over food-compatible iglidur I150 filament. igus currently has a total of eight filaments for the FDM process and three high-performance polymers for the SLS process. The user can either order the material and use it with their own 3D printer or use the igus 3D printing service.
Contact Treotham Automation for more information.
www.treotham.com.au
1300 65 75 64