Jabil Inc., a leading global manufacturing solutions provider, has introduced the PK 5000 material, an eco-friendly, powder-based additive material designed to outperform general-purpose nylon materials like PA 12 in terms of strength, chemical resistance, and resilience. This patent-pending material was developed to support high-performance automotive, consumer electronics, defence, medical, and industrial manufacturing applications. Jabil displayed a variety of PK 5000 parts at the recently concluded RAPID + TCT event.
“Our latest engineered material will disrupt the market for powder-bed fusion technologies by improving upon existing polymers to offer enhanced processing and performance properties. With PK 5000, we are introducing new innovations to meet a broad range of customer requirements while accelerating the adoption of additive manufacturing.”
- Matt Torosian, director, Product Management, Jabil Additive
PK 5000 material
Jabil's Materials Innovation Center in Chaska, Minn., where polymer formulations, compound development, and material system integration are completed from start to finish, created, tested, and validated the PK 5000 material. Highly experienced additive manufacturing engineers, chemists, materials scientists, and production experts use Jabil's materials science innovations to oversee each step of the beaker-to-box process of developing customised powders and filaments, all while adhering to an ISO 9001-2015 quality management system.
To withstand functional testing and use, this new material has a unique combination of chemical and mechanical properties, such as high-impact strength, high-abrasion resistance, and improved elongation over other nylon materials. PK 5000 also has high barrier properties and low moisture absorption, which may be important for ensuring the quality and resilience of certain parts and products exposed to fuel and water. Furthermore, the polyketone resin used to make PK 5000 is an environmentally friendly, low-carbon material derived from carbon monoxide. The ability to leverage carbon monoxide, a major source of atmospheric pollution, may help to reduce overall carbon footprint.
“Materials are a very important component of the solutions we design to address our customers’ application needs. Our team of materials scientists strive to bring new innovation to market, through in-house development or partnering with fellow industry leaders. We believe PK 5000 has the potential to open a variety of new applications to help propel the industry forward.”
- Edwin Hortelano, PhD, SVP, Materials Engineering and Development, 3D Systems
EOS, Farsoon, and 3D Systems are all testing the PK 5000 for their printer platforms. To ensure widespread access to PK 5000, Jabil is developing process parameters for all major SLS platforms.
