Metal 3D printing filament manufacturerThe Virtual Foundryhas released a new tungsten-based radiation shielding filament, Rapid 3DShield Tungsten.
The material is the densest FFF filament the firm has manufactured to date, and is capable of providing radiation shielding benefits without the need for debinding or sintering.
Containing 92-95 percent metal, the filament is suited to medical, security, non-destructive testing, and x-ray fluorescence radiation shielding applications.
The Virtual Foundry’s mission
The Virtual Foundry was established with the goal ofmaking metal 3D printing accessible to everyone, and was one of the first to bring FDM desktop metal printing to the market with itsproprietary Filamet filament。当结合FDM, Filamet产生独特prints infused with flecks of metal elements which, once they have undergone a secondary processing technique involving a kiln and the firm’s “Black Magic Powder”, produces pure metal parts.
Compatible with almost all existing FDM/FFF 3D printers, Filamet can be used to fabricate metal prototypes and scalable short-run manufacturing systems using anopen-market approach。The Virtual Foundry’sfilament rangeincludes Stainless Steel, copper, bronze, aluminum oxide, zirconium silicate, high carbon iron, and tungsten, all of which can be sintered to a high density.
The company has seenrapidly growing demand汽车内的材料和技术, aerospace, military, and education settings in recent years, having worked with the likes ofNASA,Mitsubishi, and theUS Department of Energy(DoE).
Most recently, The Virtual Foundry worked with 3D printing service providerSapphire3Dand CNC machine manufacturerLevil Technologyto provide acomplete metal 3D printing lab。The system comprises The Virtual Foundry’s metal 3D printing filaments, Levil’s EDU-Mill equipped with an industry-grade dual head 3D printer, and Sapphire3D’s kiln.
Rapid 3DShield Tungsten
Rapid 3DShield was set up in 2019 as a joint venture between The Virtual Foundry and Vulcan Global Manufacturing Solutions with the aim of developing dense, non-toxic 3D printable materials with radiation shielding capabilities.
After several years of research, the venture has now led to the creation of the firm’s Rapid 3DShield Tungsten filament. Notably, the filament does not require debinding or sintering to realize its radiation shielding properties, and can be printed much the same as the firm’s other Filamet materials.
The filament contains around 92 percent tungsten and is the most dense filament manufactured by The Virtual Foundry. In fact, the firm believes it is the densest FFF filament currently on the market at 7.51 g/cc.
In addition to its suitability within the medical, security, non-destructive testing, and x-ray fluorescence fields, Rapid 3DShield Tungsten can also be deployed for other high-density technical applications, such as counter weight and anti-vibration.
Available in 1.75 mm or 2.85 mm diameters, the filament can be 3D printed on a traditional FDM 3D printers using a hardened steel nozzle. Due to its exceptionally high density, the only color available is dark gray.
3D printing with tungsten
An inorganic non-natural compound, tungsten carbide is made from Wolfram, a rare metal found naturally on Earth, and carbon. The material’s basic form consists of a fine gray powder which can be pressed and formed into shapes via sintering for use in industrial equipment.
Although versatile, the material is prone to fractures and breakage when exposed to laser-based metal 3D printing processes. To solve this issue, theUniversity of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of EngineeringandGeneral Carbide, a Pennsylvania-based manufacturer of compound metals, have received a $57,529 grant toinvestigate various tungsten carbide base powdersthat can be utilized in a binder jet 3D printer.
In a similar vein, binder jet 3D printer providerExOnehas previously entered into a partnership withGlobal Tungsten & Powders Corpto advance the use oftungsten powders in metal binder jet 3D printing。
The material has previously been used to3D print disks within a gamma camerafor higher resolution medical imaging by London’sInstitute of Cancer Research, while scientists fromLawrence Livermore National Laboratory(LLNL) haveidentified the causes of crack formationin 3D printed tungsten.
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Featured image showsRapid 3DShield Tungsten Filament. Image via The Virtual Foundry.
