Industry News

Xenia, a leading Italian manufacturer of high-performance thermoplastic composites, has just introduced a new portfolio of reinforced pellet-based materials specifically designed for Large Scale Additive Manufacturing (LSAM). This new range has been designed for tooling applications that require strength, durability and lightness such as jigs, lamination masters, thermoforming moulds and master models.

Xenia’s range of reinforced pellet-based materials for LSAM have a low Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE), which means they expand only slightly when exposed to heat. Consequently, these materials perform well over a temperature range from room temperature to 260 °C, without undergoing significant thermal deformation during printing or under autoclaving conditions. Xenia’s new materials are also characterised by high rigidity and excellent structural stability, enabling them to offer high dimensional accuracy, even on large components.

This portfolio includes reinforced materials with various polymer matrices. Each polymer has specific properties and is therefore best suited to a particular type of industrial application. For example, PETG offers a good balance of chemical resistance, UV resistance and impact resistance, making it particularly suitable for the manufacture of large-scale functional parts and tooling. Xenia’s new range of materials also include PC, designed for advanced tooling applications, PC-HT, particularly suited for automotive and aerospace tooling, ABS, suited for prototyping, trimming jigs and industrial tooling, PEI, suited for high-temperature tooling and structural components in aerospace and defence, PESU, suited for precision tooling in industrial environments, PEEK, which offers a lightweight alternative to metal for high-end applications and PEKK, which is suitable for continuous high-temperature applications. All polymer matrixes are combined with carbon fibre reinforcement; PETG can also be combined with glass fibre reinforcement.

A wide range of sectors concerned

The portfolio is suited for a wide range of industries, including aerospace, automotive & motorsport, defence, marine, construction, energy and transport, for large-format tooling and structural components applications.

“We developed this specific range of thermoplastic compounds to address the key challenges of LSAM tooling, from thermal stability to dimensional control,” said Alfio Agostini, Account Manager of Xenia’s 3DP Materials division. “Through a combination of advanced material engineering and process optimisation, we enable manufacturers to produce large-scale tools more efficiently and with greater consistency.”

Cover photo: Xenia