The Danish Technological Institute and Radical Materials have developed an x-ray and metal detectable nylon for 3D printing, enabling components utilised in food production lines to benefit from the advantages of this manufacturing technique without sacrificing dectability.
In order to prevent plastic foreign body contaminants, components utilised on food production lines are frequently made from x-ray or metal detectable nylon. While these components are mostly either injection moulded or machined from solid stock materials, it is often desirable to have such components manufactured by 3D printing due to the advantages afforded by this technique:
- Rapid development process and easy transition from prototype to production.
- High freedom of design and the opportunity to continuously change and optimise the design.
- Ability to produce complex geometries, which would not typically be possible using traditional manufacturing methods.
- No requirement for expensive tooling and eliminates the waste associated with machining from solid.
Radical Materials were approached by the Danish Technological Institute (DTI) to facilitate a specific customer’s requirement for metal detectable nylon for 3D printing parts for the food processing industry. In order for this to be taken to a successful outcome, Radical Materials were required to supply a detectable additive to DTI which would need to meet the following requirements:
- Be highly metal detectable, such that the final printed components achieved high levels of detectability whilst utilising the lowest addition rate possible into DTI’s base nylon powder.
- Be compatible with DTI’s 3D printing process necessary to manufacture the nylon components.
- Be capable of meeting food contact regulations required of the final components.
Working together on this global issue, Radical formulated a detectable powder which DTI processed into their base polymer, enabling them to supply 3D printed, metal detectable nylon parts to their customer.
As a further enhancement to the offering, and responding to demands from the wider industry, there was a requirement for DTI to be able to offer nylon printed components which were not only strongly detectable by metal detection systems, but also by X-ray detectors. Radical Materials subsequently developed and supplied a bespoke additive blend, which DTI mixed with their base nylon powder and successfully printed nylon parts with both metal and X-ray detection performance. An additional benefit of this additive blend is that, due to Radical’s proprietary materials, colouring of the final components is easily achieved and DTI were able to offer 3D printed, x-ray & metal detectable nylon products in a bright and bold blue.
“We first became aware of metal detectable powder through experiences from the injection moulding industry, and we believe that it has great potential in 3D printing as well. With the detectable additives and blends from Radical Materials, we are able to explore new business opportunities, develop new types of products, and enter new markets, where we can demonstrate the potential of 3D printing.”
Mads Østergaard, Team Manager at the Danish Technological Institute
“As a company, we already offered leading solutions for imparting metal and X-ray detectability to polymer products manufactured by techniques such as moulding and extrusion. We were aware of the advantages of 3D printing and the benefits of utilising this technique to produce components for the food processing industry. We are therefore happy to have been able to support DTI in their very successful venture to offer the best of both worlds.”
Chris Vince, Technical Director at Radical Materials
