Techmer PM HiFill GF-PET material system bridges low, high-temp tooling gap
GF-PET compound delivers dimensional accuracy, thermal stability and accessible shape compensation data for high-performance 3D printed tooling applications.
Tool shape compensation of printed tooling enabled through virtual twin Additive3D. Source | Techmer PM
Techmer PM (Clinton, Tenn., U.S.), a materials innovation company delivering advanced composites for additive manufacturing (AM), has announced the commercial release of HiFill GF-PET, a glass-filled polyethylene terephthalate material system engineered for 3D printing intermediate-temperature autoclave tooling. Tailored for use up to 121°C, this material offers a cost-effective alternative that bridges the gap between low-temperature and high-temperature thermoplastic material systems.
As industries push toward more efficient and scalable composite part production, manufacturers face limited material choices for tooling that must perform reliably under autoclave conditions without exceeding budget constraints. The HiFill GF-PET fills this gap, delivering thermal stability and dimensional accuracy at an accessible cost, making it ideal for intermediate-temperature tooling applications needed in the marine, automotive, wind and aerospace industries.
Designed for large-format additive manufacturing (LFAM), HiFill GF-PET provides low and consistent thermal expansion and is supported by a dataset needed for tool shape compensation with Additive3D (Figure 1), a comprehensive physics-based virtual twin developed at the Composites Manufacturing and Simulation Center (CAMS) at Purdue University (West Lafayette, Ind., U.S.). This enables users to anticipate dimensional changes during postprocessing and autoclave cycling, improving the precision and repeatability of printed tools.
HiFill GF-PET’s mechanical properties and thermal expansion behavior have been characterized across print orientations and temperature ranges. When combined with the simulation capabilities of Additive3D, this data enables accurate tool shape compensation by accounting for anisotropic behavior and directional effects inherent to the additive process. Additive3D is available to members of the CAMS consortium at Purdue.
Center Street Technologies (Youngstown, Ohio, U.S.) played a key role in testing HiFill GF-PET, validating its performance in real-world tooling applications. “Glass-filled polyester [PET] offers a combination of strength, stiffness and heat resistance I need for printing parts for structural and tooling applications, without resorting to more exotic engineering resins,” explains Bob Berardino, senior materials engineer at Center Street Technologies. “The print quality is excellent, the material machinable to final tolerances and the parts are sturdy and dimensionally stable.”
The material is now commercially available, and Techmer PM is actively partnering with OEMs and service providers for expanded tooling trials. Technical documentation, processing guidelines and data for shape compensation are available upon request.
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