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PEEK, poly(ether etherketone), is one of the high-quality industrial polymers. It is widely used in extremely demanding areas like automotive, aircraft and space industries. Because of the fact that it is bio-compatible, PEEK is also used for medical implants that are usually made by milling a block of the material. The article presents the results of an investigation of processing PEEK on a 3D printer for thermoplastic modelling. The used procedure is one of the additive manufacturing procedures and, as such, it builds a product by adding material layer by layer to get the finished product. Commercially available machines are unable to achieve the required melting and environment temperatures, so a new machine was developed. The machine was designed and built at the company Ortotip d.o.o. and it is able to produce the parts of up to 130 mm Ž 130 mm Ž 150 mm. After the initial testing, test specimens, according to standards EN ISO 527-2: 2012 and EN ISO 178: 2011, were produced and tested at the facilities of the PEEK manufacturer Invibio (from the UK). The article presents the steps taken when developing the PEEK modelling machine, the test methods to verify the mechanical properties of manufactured products and the results of the material testing. The machine was developed to produce medical implants (specific maxillofacial prosthesis), but with additional testing (that will help to improve the mechanical properties of produced parts) practically all bone-replacement implants can be made. PEEK, polyether etherketon, je eden izmed visoko kvalitetnih industrijskih polimerov. Uporablja se na zahtevnih področjih, kot so avtomobilska, letalska in vesoljska industrija. Zaradi dejstva, da je biokompatibilen, je uporaben tudi za medicinske vsadke, ki so navadno narejeni s frezanjem iz bloka materiala. Članek predstavlja izsledke raziskave oblikovanja PEEK s 3D-tiskalnikom za termoplastično modeliranje. Uporabljen postopek spada med tako imenovane dodajalne tehnologije in kot tak gradi izdelek po slojih. Komercialno dostopni stroji ne zmorejo doseči zahtevanih procesnih in okoljskih temperatur, zato je bila razvita nova naprava. Ta je bila oblikovana in izdelana v podjetju Ortotip, d. o. o., in je primerna za izdelke do velikosti 130 mm Ž 130 mm Ž 150 mm. Po uvodnih preizkusih so bile izdelane preizkusne epruvete v skladu s standardoma EN ISO 527-2: 2012 in EN ISO 178: 2011 in preizkušene od proizvajalca PEEK-materiala Invibio (iz VB). Predstavljeni so ključni koraki pri razvoju naprave za direktno izdelavo modelov, preizkusne metode za verifikacijo mehanskih lastnosti izdelanih kosov in rezultati meritev. Naprava je bila razvita za izdelavo medicinskih vsadkov (posebno lobanjske vsadke), vendar bo ob dodatnih preizkusih (za izboljšanje mehanskih lastnosti izdelanih kosov) primerna za vse vrste medicinskih vsadkov.

PEEK, poly(ether etherketone), is one of the high-quality industrial polymers. It is widely used in extremely demanding areas like automotive, aircraft and space industries. Because of the fact that it is bio-compatible, PEEK is also used for medical implants that are usually made by milling a block of the material. The article presents the results of an investigation of processing PEEK on a 3D printer for thermoplastic modelling. The used procedure is one of the additive manufacturing procedures and, as such, it builds a product by adding material layer by layer to get the finished product. Commercially available machines are unable to achieve the required melting and environment temperatures, so a new machine was developed. The machine was designed and built at the company Ortotip d.o.o. and it is able to produce the parts of up to 130 mm Ž 130 mm Ž 150 mm. After the initial testing, test specimens, according to standards EN ISO 527-2: 2012 and EN ISO 178: 2011, were produced and tested at the facilities of the PEEK manufacturer Invibio (from the UK). The article presents the steps taken when developing the PEEK modelling machine, the test methods to verify the mechanical properties of manufactured products and the results of the material testing. The machine was developed to produce medical implants (specific maxillofacial prosthesis), but with additional testing (that will help to improve the mechanical properties of produced parts) practically all bone-replacement implants can be made. PEEK, polyether etherketon, je eden izmed visoko kvalitetnih industrijskih polimerov. Uporablja se na zahtevnih področjih, kot so avtomobilska, letalska in vesoljska industrija. Zaradi dejstva, da je biokompatibilen, je uporaben tudi za medicinske vsadke, ki so navadno narejeni s frezanjem iz bloka materiala. Članek predstavlja izsledke raziskave oblikovanja PEEK s 3D-tiskalnikom za termoplastično modeliranje. Uporabljen postopek spada med tako imenovane dodajalne tehnologije in kot tak gradi izdelek po slojih. Komercialno dostopni stroji ne zmorejo doseči zahtevanih procesnih in okoljskih temperatur, zato je bila razvita nova naprava. Ta je bila oblikovana in izdelana v podjetju Ortotip, d. o. o., in je primerna za izdelke do velikosti 130 mm Ž 130 mm Ž 150 mm. Po uvodnih preizkusih so bile izdelane preizkusne epruvete v skladu s standardoma EN ISO 527-2: 2012 in EN ISO 178: 2011 in preizkušene od proizvajalca PEEK-materiala Invibio (iz VB). Predstavljeni so ključni koraki pri razvoju naprave za direktno izdelavo modelov, preizkusne metode za verifikacijo mehanskih lastnosti izdelanih kosov in rezultati meritev. Naprava je bila razvita za izdelavo medicinskih vsadkov (posebno lobanjske vsadke), vendar bo ob dodatnih preizkusih (za izboljšanje mehanskih lastnosti izdelanih kosov) primerna za vse vrste medicinskih vsadkov.

Additive technologies are entering the market in all price segments and the development of new machines and materials is rapidly growing. Machines under 2000 EUR are more and more interesting for home and educational use. This paper presents the development of a 3D printer that shapes the parts layer by layer by depositing the material on a predefined position. The development is presented from the engineering point of view. The construction steps, the control and the actuator solutions are presented. The ABS plastic was analysed for its material properties. The 3D printer evolved from a prototype to the pre-production phase. Dodajalne tehnologije vstopajo na trg v vseh cenovnih segmentih, razvoj novih naprav in materialov pa je v konstantnem teku. Naprave s ceno pod 2000 EUR so vse bolj zanimive za uporabo doma in v izobraževalne namene. Članek prikazuje razvoj 3D-tiskalnika, ki izdela izdelek s ciljnim nalaganjem materiala na določena mesta posameznega sloja. Prikazan je inženirski pogled na razvoj. Predstavljeni so konstrukcijski koraki in rešitev vodenja. Analizirane so bile lastnosti materiala ABS. Izdelek je prešel prototipno fazo in je sedaj v predproizvodni fazi.

Additive technologies are entering the market in all price segments and the development of new machines and materials is rapidly growing. Machines under 2000 EUR are more and more interesting for home and educational use. This paper presents the development of a 3D printer that shapes the parts layer by layer by depositing the material on a predefined position. The development is presented from the engineering point of view. The construction steps, the control and the actuator solutions are presented. The ABS plastic was analysed for its material properties. The 3D printer evolved from a prototype to the pre-production phase. Dodajalne tehnologije vstopajo na trg v vseh cenovnih segmentih, razvoj novih naprav in materialov pa je v konstantnem teku. Naprave s ceno pod 2000 EUR so vse bolj zanimive za uporabo doma in v izobraževalne namene. Članek prikazuje razvoj 3D-tiskalnika, ki izdela izdelek s ciljnim nalaganjem materiala na določena mesta posameznega sloja. Prikazan je inženirski pogled na razvoj. Predstavljeni so konstrukcijski koraki in rešitev vodenja. Analizirane so bile lastnosti materiala ABS. Izdelek je prešel prototipno fazo in je sedaj v predproizvodni fazi.

With Additive Manufacturing - AM it is possible to create physical models, prototypes, components, tools and functional parts from 3D data constructed using the computer (CAD), with complicated geometry, which is very difficult or even impossible to do with other manufacturing technologies. AM processes for the manufacturing of prototypes use metals, ceramics and polymers in the form of liquids, powders, wire, foil, etc. However, there are many limitations, primarily in the selection of materials. Therefore, it is necessary to know the material properties, and how the various parameters of the machine influence on them, especially if it is manufacturing functional parts. The paper provides a brief overview of Selective Laser Sintering – SLS, and how the machine parameters (layer thickness, speed and power of laser) influence the mechanical properties of materials (tensile properties and hardness).