Most of us have experienced the occasional electrostatic shock before. You walk across a carpeted room on a dry day, reach for a metal doorknob, and ZAP – you not only feel the shock but can hear it, too. That’s a pretty benign example. However, the same scenario can also occur with devastating consequences. In 2005, a spark within an electrical control box at the Buncefield, UK, fuel storage facility caused massive explosions and a fire that burned for five days.
Needless to say, controlling static discharge is critical in certain industries and applications. Although most electrostatic discharge (ESD) applications don’t have ramifications like the Buncefield incident, there are plenty of manufacturing scenarios where static control is critical in maintaining the integrity of electronic components. As 3D printing spreads within manufacturing, additional ESD-safe materials offer manufacturers more options.
The latest ESD-safe addition to the Stratasys FDM material portfolio is PC-ESD. It offers the benefits of polycarbonate – moderate strength and excellent impact resistance – with ESD-safe properties. Besides having good printability and dimensional stability, PC-ESD is capable of higher heat exposure, which makes it compatible with printed circuit board conformal coating operations. Other applications include material handling fixtures, manufacturing jigs, and similar support tooling used in sensitive electronic production environments.
PC-ESD is the newest member in our catalog of Validated Materials that are available on Fortus 450mc and F900 3D printers. Validated Materials extend the FDM material selection with new offerings developed by Stratasys or a third party. These materials meet quality and print reliability standards and benefit customers through faster market implementation.
As the third ESD-safe material in the FDM lineup, PC-ESD fits between ABS-ESD7, a material for lower-requirement applications, and Antero 840CN03, a high-performance PEKK-based thermoplastic.
To learn more about the new ESD-safe polycarbonate FDM filament, visit the PC-ESD web page.
