Unprecedented design and production of high quality printed objects
LyondellBasell (NYSE: LYB), one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world, today announced the launch of Beon3D, an innovative product family which allows for the unprecedented design and production of complex, high quality 3D printed objects in one step. Beon3D achieves this by combining polymer technologies with additive manufacturing. This new polypropylene (PP) product range aims at advancing the adoption of additive manufacturing in markets such as transportation, industrial and consumer goods, building and construction.
“For more than 70 years, our customers have benefitted from LyondellBasell’s innovation and industry leading technologies. The Beon3D product line enables our customers to keep pace with the ever-changing manufacturing requirements by giving them access to a higher level of digital engineering and manufacturing efficiency,” says Jim Guilfoyle, Executive Vice President at LyondellBasell. “Our long-term leadership position in PP compounds and our extensive know-how in PP technologies continues to evolve making this new product line possible.”
While additive manufacturing is often associated with the production of single items, it can also be used for large-scale custom manufacturing. Polypropylene compounds are in many cases the material of choice in industrial manufacturing due to their good mechanical properties, scratch and chemical resistance, light weight, as well as resource efficiency.
With the launch of Beon3D, LyondellBasell brings all of these advantages to additive manufacturing and combines them with an easy processability in extrusion-based processes. High hydrophobicity, acoustical and optical performance, as well as heat resistance complement the range of properties. Due to Beon3D compounds having high dimensional stability and surface quality, it allows for the design of complex, high quality parts. They also define a new benchmark in terms of production reliability, as well as resource and production efficiency.
While the use of PP compounds in additive manufacturing is still emerging, leading 3D printing industry experts foresee a bright future for this technology. Professor Dr. Rolf Muelhaupt, additive manufacturing expert from the University of Freiburg, Germany, states: “The combination of Beon3D advanced PP compounds and additive manufacturing will enable new material properties previously unthinkable. Producing sustainable finished products in one-step has become a reality today through the combination of design, digitization and manufacturing”.
