We know the challenges of developing a material like this, because we have been chasing this for many years at the request of industry leaders. In order for a support material to be considered high-performance, we needed to address thermal stability at elevated temperatures, great adhesion to most materials, high-quality filament manufacturing with reliable and consistent printability, and exceptional dissolution rates, all while being environmentally conscious.
For as long as 3D printing has been around, manufacturers and developers have been looking for ways to streamline production for more efficient results. Although 3D printing has itself cut costs and created major advancements in material design, there are still limitations and costly processes that have remained a problem for manufacturing.
One of these has been the necessity to design and build with less than optimal support structures, hindering creativity and keeping post-production costs a major factor with many builds. Often, post-processing of 3D printed parts requires more labor and time than the printing of the part, creating bottlenecks and increased cost.
But, what was once considered the holy grail solution for additive manufacturing, has now become a reality. AquaSys 120 high-performance water-soluble support is a newly patented, composite material that meets the rigorous demand of advanced additive manufacturing applications.
AquaSys120 is a breakthrough water-soluble support FDM filament that allows you to 3D print complex parts with ease. This filament was recently awarded a patent and received IDTechEX “Best innovation in 3D printing “award.
Its true power is its breakthrough water-soluble performance, which significantly reduces the time it takes to remove the material after its 3D printed. In a recent study, AquaSys 120 was found to dissolve up to twice as fast as a leading brand of PVA at room temperature (22 ºC) and over six times faster at elevated temperatures (80 ºC).