Next week at the International K Trade Fair in Dusseldorf, Carbon will debut its latest innovation in materials, a new resin called RPU 130. RPU 130 fills the need for a tough, rigid, and high temperature additive manufacturing material suitable for rigorous applications in industries such as automotive. RPU 130 is also partially derived from plants, addressing the growing demand for more sustainable, high-performance materials.
Rigid polyurethane is Carbon’s most versatile rigid material family. Carbon developed RPU 130 to address the need for superior impact resistance and dimensional stability at elevated temperatures that additive materials don’t address. In addition to automotive, RPU 130 is relevant for a range of industrial and consumer product applications such as air ducts and brake caliper covers for vehicles, sunglasses, tool housings, and device enclosures. RPU 130 combines some of the best characteristics of Carbon’s RPU 70, FPU 50, and EPX 82 resins into a single, tough, heat and impact resistant material, similar to ABS, unfilled nylon, or polypropylene.
Said Dr. Joseph DeSimone, Co-Founder and CEO of Carbon, “Although some of these properties have been available before in additive, RPU 130 is the first to combine them all into a single manufacturing material suitable for the most demanding conditions.”
RPU 130 is the latest dual-cure engineering resin made exclusively for Carbon Digital Light Synthesis technology, at the heart of a new comprehensive solution. Its combination of performance attributes makes this new material wholly unique for additive manufacturing and more comparable to unfilled thermoplastics.
Producing RPU 130 required innovations in not only material science, but also software and hardware. In addition to the new dual-cure resin, Carbon is offering a new heated C5 Cassette required for use with the material, a new dispensing solution, and tuning via software to ensure great end-use products.
In addition to new hardware and software components, RPU 130 was made with environmentally sustainable raw materials. Carbon partnered with DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products to use Susterra propanediol, a 100% bio-based building block that delivers high performance across a wide variety of polymers, coatings, and ink applications. Compared with conventional petroleum-based alternatives, Susterra propanediol produces 48% less greenhouse gas emissions and uses 46% less nonrenewable energy from cradle-to-gate. Nearly 30% of RPU 130 is composed of this plant-based material. Going forward, Carbon is firmly committed to building on this work by continuing to expand efforts to achieve more sustainable practices through the use of advanced, high-performance, bio-based materials like Susterra propanediol.
“We are focused on ways to incorporate more sustainable approaches to developing materials, and our partnership with DuPont Tate & Lyle emphasizes that commitment. We believe that sustainability can go hand-in-hand with improved performance. In the case of RPU 130, we believe it will make the material even more appealing for our customers, as it makes it possible to create better quality products that are also ultimately better for the environment,” said Jason Rolland, SVP of Materials at Carbon.
Carbon RPU 130 is available via Carbon’s resin store starting today in the USA, Canada, and Europe. To learn more about RPU 130, please stop by Carbon’s booth at K-Show from October 16-23 located at H7.2, F12.
Carbon
www.carbon3d.com
