A new ABS-based carbon fibre material has been introduced by Stratasys for its line of F123 Series 3D printers, the first composite material for the platform. Carbon fibre materials have proven extremely popular on Stratasys’ industrial-scale FDM 3D printers for a variety of end-use applications such as jigs, fixtures, and tooling. With FDM ABS-CF10, Stratasys now makes carbon fibre much more accessible to the engineering and manufacturing community with high-performance F170, F270, and F370 3D printers.

The material properties of FDM ABS-CF10, featuring 10% chopped carbon fiber, make it a compelling alternative to metal parts. In fact, the material is 15% stronger and more than 50% stiffer than standard ABS, without the weight of metal, and can be printed with a high degree of accuracy. QSR Support water-soluble material makes it possible to 3D print intricate and complex parts without time-consuming manual support removal.

UK-based Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group specializes in the conversion and modification of military, civil, and business aircraft, along with defense vehicle engineering and shelter manufacturing. The company uses both Fortus 450mc and F370 3D printers for a variety of tooling applications.

“All the tooling we create has different and often unique requirements,” said Chris Botting, materials and environmental engineering manager at Marshall. “Our F370 3D printers offer us the flexibility to choose from a wide variety of materials based on application demands while still producing functional parts. 3D printing parts that we historically would have made of metal has led to a significant cost reduction compared to machining the part out of aluminium, while reducing overall part weight. We can’t wait to begin to realize the benefits of FDM ABS-CF10 for creating manufacturing aids like we have with our other carbon fibre materials”.