Ryan Lodermeier
Antero 800NA Stratasys
Part printed in Stratasys' Antero 800NA thermoplastic.
Stratasys has announced that aerospace giant Boeing has qualified its Antero 800NA 3D printing thermoplastic material to its fleet of Fused Deposition Modelling equipment.
In a recent TCT interview with Stratasys founder Scott Crump, Boeing were credited as the foremost company to drive the development and application of 3D printing in the aerospace sector, starting with non-functional parts and building towards interior cabin components. With this qualification, the aerospace leader will now be able use the high-temperature Antero material to produce flight parts for its aircraft.
Antero 800NA is a PEKK-based polymer that has been developed to support Stratasys’ ‘production-grade’ 3D printing platforms. The material has been added to Boeing’s Qualified Products List as part of its BMS8-444 specification after extensive evaluation of its performance. It has become the first Stratasys material to be qualified by Boeing for use in applications that have elevated chemical resistance or fatigue requirements.
Prior to Boeing’s qualification of the material, NASA and Lockheed Martin utilised Antero 800NA to produce an intricately connected docking hatch door on the Orion deep-space spacecraft. With this latest development, Stratasys believes it opens the door to many new applications.
“Boeing has recognised the tremendous utility of Antero to meet applications that couldn’t have been 3D printed before,” commented Stratasys Aerospace Vice President Scott Sevcik. “Additive manufacturing has tremendous benefits for simplifying aerospace supply chains both in original equipment and MRO, but robust materials for meeting challenging flight requirements have been needed.”
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