"We are excited to begin this partnership and look forward to continuing our work together to develop high-performance materials and processes for today's and tomorrow's needs and applications. The new PAEK polymer-based materials will enable designers and developers to utilize the highest performing polymers for additive manufacturing. They also help to realize the vision of developing additive manufacturing into a high performance production process," says Professor Oana Ghita, Head of CALM at the University of Exeter.

Victrex and CALM initially started working together in a consortium focusing on the development of Victrex PAEK polymers for various 3D printing processes. After significant improvements had been achieved, Victrex recently announced new PAEK products for additive manufacturing: a high-strength material for laser sintering and a filament with higher strength in the Z-direction and better printability compared to previous PAEK materials.

Improved additive manufacturing technologies with Victrex PAEK provide designers with numerous benefits such as greater design freedom when using additive manufacturing in high-performance applications, more powerful additive manufacturing solutions that enable the production of highly complex, customized and highly specialized PAEK components, digital development and production of PAEK parts for rapid prototyping and faster time-to-market, and greater cost-effectiveness by eliminating production waste, lower replacement rates in powder bed processes and higher material yields in filament fusion.

"We want to help overcome barriers to adoption and realize the full potential of PAEK and PEEK-based parts produced by additive manufacturing," explains Ian Smith, Marketing Director at Victrex. "To unlock a new value chain, it is necessary to work together to create the conditions that can meet the unmet needs of the industry and accelerate the adoption of PAEK and PEEK for AM technologies. The partnership with the University of Exeter is part of our efforts to build such a commercial ecosystem."

The company expects that the aviation industry and medical technology in particular could benefit in the first phase. For example, the use of PAEK and PEEK in additive manufacturing can enable new designs and the consolidation of components in the aviation industry. At the same time, it will be possible to produce parts that are difficult to manufacture by machining. In medicine, additive manufacturing with PAEK could enable the production of individual implants for patients.

CALM: leading competence center for polymer additive layer manufacturing (ALM)

CALM specializes in the use of high-temperature and high-performance polymers and composites for additive manufacturing. To develop the next generation of materials, the center provides independent research and technical support in collaboration with academia and industry worldwide. As a leading center of excellence in the high-temperature field, CALM conducts cutting-edge research into additive manufacturing technologies and investigates how to enable and accelerate the widespread adoption and application of these technologies in industrial production.