By Scott Sevcik, Director, Aerospace & Defense Business Development, Stratasys

Once a satellite is launched, there is no way to fix something that breaks. That drives the need for incredibly high reliability in an extreme environment. Temperatures can range from -150°C to +150°C within an hour, there is no air flow, and electrostatic charges can build up very quickly. An electrostatic discharge can damage or destroy the sensitive electronics required to operate the satellite, leaving a very expensive piece of space trash behind.

All of these environmental extremes need to be planned for and addressed in the design of spacecraft equipment. The traditional advantages of additive manufacturing for aerospace – namely, reduced weight and increased design freedom – have led spacecraft and launch vehicle companies to ask Stratasys for help in addressing these challenging environments with 3D printing materials that can meet the extreme temperatures of space without risking electrostatic discharge.

To meet the growing demand for material solutions in high requirements industries, Stratasys Advanced Materials works closely with customers to engineer materials to meet unique challenges. For the high-temperature, electrostatically sensitive environments of space and electronics customers, Stratasys Advanced Materials developed a thermoplastic material called ESD PEKK (dissipative polyetherketoneketone).

ESD PEKK’s material properties combine the advantage of ABS-ESD7’s electrostatic dissipative (ESD) properties , ULTEMTM 9085’s strength and thermal properties, and the chemical resistance of the PEKK base resin to offer a material that yields faster delivery of multi-functional production parts and tooling.

With the need for materials that dissipate electrostatic charge buildup to prevent damage to components, the space and electronics industries turn to post-processing methods such as coating, painting, and covering with conductive tape to meet ESD properties when using thermoplastics. ESD PEKK’s conductive filler is designed to eliminate the time and expense of additional post-processing steps and allows the part to be used right out of the printer. Additionally, its superior tensile strength and resistance to chemicals and high temperatures offers stability for production parts operating in extreme environments. Stratasys has generated a wide range of test data to support its adoption by customers with demanding requirements. Stratasys has also proven initial use cases to meet specific customer requirements, both on the ground and in space.

A whitepaper about the ESD PEKK project is available.

Stratasys Advanced Materials
stratasys.com/materials