AM POLYMERS GmbH
About us
We deliver the "Plug & Play" polymer powder for your 3D printer!
Your experts for the production of qualified plastic powders for laser sintering (SLS) and high speed sintering (HSS)
Founded in 2014 as a spin-off from the University of Duisburg-Essen, AM POLYMERS GmbH has globally gained high reputation as a specialist in plastic powders for SLS and HSS processes.
Thanks to the tremendous know-how of our team, we have all stages of the production chain under our control.
If necessary, we can tailor the material for your application.
With our powder materials, we meet your requirements with properties comparable to injection molding, while maintaining easy processing.
Due to this fact we produce batch-to-batch consistent powder materials resulting in parts with particularly high-quality properties. In addition to the standard materials polyamide 11 and 12, our portfolio includes six other plastics known from injection molding and widely used here, such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polyamide 6, polyamide 66 and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). We offer these in different filler and color variants to enable optimum material performance to match the application. These include variants with flame retardant, carbon or glass fibers, or absorbers for machines with fiber lasers.
Your efforts for running-in our products on your machines are significantly reduced by adapted machine-specific parameter recommendations. Hence you deliver customer parts within a few days!
Our philosophy: "Plug & Play" instead of "Plug & Pray"!
Download our portfolio: https://am-polymers.de/download-produkt-portfolio/
Products & services
Flame retardant PA11 for laser sintering and 3d printing: ROLASERIT® PA11-01-FR and PA11-01-BK-FR
Flame retardant UL94 V0 variant: A new flame retardant version PA11-01-FR was brought to market in natural color. Compared to other flame retardant materials for powder bed fusion UL94 tests show V0 performance even at 1.2 mm part thickness when using virgin powder. Using refreshed powder UL94 V0 is confirmed for 2 mm part thickness. Additionally, in contrast to other, especially PA12 based flame retardant material PA11-01-FR show significantly higher elongation at break of 15 % First black flame retardant material with V0 rating for fiber laser machines: In addition to the natural material a black version was developed. This variant fulfils UL94 V0 for parts with 3 mm wall thickness. Due to its black absorber PA11-01-BK-FR is the flame retardant material on the market processable on laser sintering machines using a fiber laser.
TPU powder for laser sintering and 3d printing: ROLASERIT® TPU-01
Highest elongation at break - In serial production since 2014 The use of TPU has proven itself especially in industrial series production for elastic products. For instance, TPU is used to produce seals for windows or cars. Grippers and tubes made of TPU are applied in automation. Orthopedics also benefit from this material to produce shoe soles or their components. With our ROLASERIT® TPU you are making the right choice as we allow easy processing of TPU. Low refresh rates in the range of the generated part volume, or the repeated processing of the material without refreshing, enable an extremely economical part production. In contrast to other TPU powders, ROLASERIT® TPU is not subject to excessive, disturbing smoke emission and laser decomposition of the material, which would lead to low-molecular decomposition products. A simple exposure of the cross sections is sufficient to achieve optimum product properties. Thus, our TPU can be used on all common laser sintering machines - a clear advantage for companies with limited machinery. Impressive elongation at break Components manufactured from this material show elongations at break partially well over 500 %, with results of over 200 - 300 % even in z-direction. In addition, excellent surface properties and high edge sharpness with good detail resolution can finally be achieved. Lowest Shore hardness on the market The hardness can be adjusted by process settings between 70 and 85 Shore A. In comparison, the material has one of the lowest Shore hardnesses on the market. All products are immediately ready for use without infiltration, pressure-tight up to 5 bar and can be easily dyed and chemically smoothed. Different color grades available ROLASERIT® TPU is available in natural, gray-black and as a blue/green luminescent variant.The gray-black as well as a special whitish variant (TPU-01-NIR) are suitable for use with fiber laser.
Polypropylene powder for laser sintering and 3d printing: ROLASERIT® PP-01 or PP-01-GR
Easy processing PP with superior performance Compared to the standard PA12 and PA11, polypropylene stands out in particular due to its excellent chemical resistance at a low density and lower material costs. AM Polymers has been offering PP since 2017. It is harder and more heat resistant than PE and easy to process on all machines, thus meeting your specific requirements in the best possible way. PP-01 has a low tendency to curl and warp, making it easy to set up a robust processing. Components made of PP-01 have good mechanical properties and, in contrast to many other new material developments for powder bed fusion, exhibit ductile part behavior with elongations at break exceeding 40%. The fracture behavior corresponds to that of PA12, with the otherwise typical characteristics of PP. Benefits of ROLASERIT® PP-01 - High performance / ductility / plasticity - Excellent chemical resistance - Low moisture absorption - Lower material costs compared to PA12 - Suitable for series production - Easy processing - Works also with blade recoaters - Superior elongation at break up to 200 % XY / 40 % Z of vapor smoothed PP-01 - Charpy impact strength notched 5.2 kJ/m²/ unnotched 93 kJ/m² of vapor smoothed PP-01 - High impact strength - Natural/translucent, white and dark grey colors available - Carbon fiber reinforced version with 2,000 MPa Modulus available - Easy postprocessing (chemical smoothing) Applications of PP-01 - Chemical & variety of industrial goods - Lower cost for functional prototypes - Technical components with film hinges - Housings i.e. for electronic units - Automotive interior / exterior - Fluid / water tanks (especially break fluid tanks) and manifolds - Orthopedics & prosthetics - Medical / pharmaceutical equipment
PBT powder for laser sintering and 3d printing: ROLASERIT® PBT-01
PBT is used especially for valve parts, plug connectors and electrical/electronic components, but also for pump housings and wheels, household appliance components, headlight housings and automotive components. Compared to PA12 and PA11, PBT has better mechanical properties and much lower moisture absorption, as well as higher heat resistance. In a joint development with Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, AM Polymers has developed a PBT material which is characterized by good processability and good mechanical component properties comparable to injection molding. Unlike other PBT powders, no high-temperature equipment is required for processing ROLASERIT® PBT-01. The material can be processed on all common standard systems for powder bed fusion. Hence, this material is available on the market without restrictions. ROLASERIT® PBT-01 has mechanical properties corresponding to typical injection molded PBT materials. In addition, it has a high elongation at break of 15 % compared with other available powders, with good layer-to-layer bonding in the direction of building. As a result, even finer structures can be produced without the risk of damage when unpacking or blasting. Benefits of ROLASERIT® PBT-01 - High performance and ductility of up to 15 % - Suitable for series production - Easy processing & postprocessing (smoothing) - Economic recycling rate of 30 % - Superior Young`s Modulus up to 2,650 MPa - Higher electrical resistivity compared to injection molding - Outstanding surface quality without post-processing - Natural / White and dark grey colors available - Carbon fiber (6,200 MPa modulus) and glass fiber (3,900 MPa modulus) version available - HDT A/B up to 127 °C/ 180 °C - Alternative to PA 12 with glass beads with low refresh rate
Polyamide 6 powder for laser sintering and 3d printing: ROLASERIT® PA6-01-BK and PA6-01-CF
Typical applications of PA6 are in mechanical engineering, in the production of bearings, gears, parts for household appliances and consumer goods, cladding, fittings or pump elements. Applications in the engine area such as carburetor parts or intake manifolds are also possible. In classical plastics processing, polyamide 6, with a market share of over 50 %, is of much greater importance than PA12 and PA11, which are used for special applications. PA 6 is characterized in particular by better mechanical properties and higher temperature resistance. ROLASERIT® PA6-01-BK offers very good processing with high strength and stiffness. Compared to other PA6 powders on the market, the material has a high elongation at break of 15 % in the build plane and 4 % in the building direction, even when dry. This means that the material does not become brittle even at high operating temperatures, so that even small features and details can be realized in functional components. Carbon fiber reinforced variant The performance of the material can further be increased with the carbon fiber-filled variant PA6-01-CF. The material has a strength of 85 MPa and a Young's modulus of 7,300 MPa, a level that can hardly be achieved by any other material in laser-sintering. At the same time, material does not exhibit significant weakening in the building direction. The application temperature HDT A rises to over 196 °C, making many high-temperature applications possible.
Polyamide 11 powder for laser sintering and 3d printing: ROLASERIT® PA11-01, PA11-01-BK and PA11-01-CF
PA11 is based 100% on renewable raw materials and is made from castor beans. In contrast to PA12 in laser-sintering, significantly higher elongation at break can be achieved with PA11. The elongation at break in the build plane is up to 45%. Even in the building direction, significantly higher elongation at break of 25%, in some cases even over 30%, is achieved compared to PA12. The material is therefore particularly suitable for applications in which component ductility plays a major role. In addition, the material has the best impact strength values in laser-sintering. Even the notched impact strength is 7.5 kJ/m². The material's processability is comparable to that of PA12. For the natural-colored variant PA11-01 food contact according to EC No. 1935/2004 and FDA approval is possible. The material is also available as a black variant PA11-01-BK, with a true black color well suited also for fiber laser. Carbon fiber-filled variant AM Polymers also offers the carbon fiber-reinforced PA11-01-CF. This has a very high strength of 74 MPa and a high stiffness of 5,800 MPa. However, with 8.5% elongation at break, the material remains sufficiently ductile to enable flexible features to be realized in the part. Even in the z-direction, with 46 MPa strength and 2,500 MPa Young's modulus, there is no weakening of the material. An HDT B of 190 °C also allows parts to be used at very high temperatures. In contrast to other carbon fiber-filled materials, the material can be refreshed using standard processes and mesh sizes during sieving as a result of a filler size tailored to the grain size. This ensures a constant fiber content and high compound quality.
Polyamide 12 powder for laser sintering and 3d printing: ROLASERIT® PA12-03, PA12-03-GB, PA12-05 and PA12-05-BK
Polyamides are one of the most important groups in the field of engineering plastics. In powder bed fusion, polyamides dominate the market in the form of PA12 and PA11. PA12 is the most widely used and is still the standard material today, despite the wide range of alternatives. Due to its very large process window, polyamide 12 has very good processability and is compatible with all machines. The PA12-03 offered by AM Polymers is absolutely equivalent to the most widely used PA12 materials (e.g. EOS PA2200) in terms of characteristic values, processing and processing parameters. This allows to achieve high elongation at break of over 20 % in the building plane and more than 10 % in the building direction. The material offers itself here as a useful third-party alternative. Refresh optimized versions: Furthermore, two PA12 types with improved reusability are offered: PA12-05 (white) and PA12-05-BK (dark grey). This means that only a 30% refresh rate is required for processing instead of the usual 50%, which has no impact on processing or performance characteristics. Black version for fiber laser: With the PA12-05-BK, AM Polymers offers a dark grey PA12 material especially dedicated for fiber laser machines. It has the typical good processability of PA12 while still showing high ductility. Glass-filled variant; In addition to the base material, AM Polymers also offers a glass bead-filled variant. The PA12-03-GB has a significantly increased stiffness of 3,300 MPa compared to unfilled PA12. At the same time, the material is still sufficiently ductile with 6% elongation at break.