ThermaX PPSU, or polyphenylsulfone, known by its industry names Radel or PPSF, is an aromatic sulfone polymer great for high-temperature applications.

0:00​ - Intro
1:33​ - What Industries Use This Material
2:36​ - What Temps You Need to Print This
4:20​ - Material Specifications
5:20​ - Environmental Factors
7:05​ - Example Parts
9:06​ - Vase Break Tests
10:34​ - Burn Tests
12:19​ - Sample Bar Break Test
13:37​ - End

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Excellent thermal properties in combination with high impact, low smoke, and good strength make PPSU a material for so many engineering solutions.

It’s actually got one of the highest un-filled temperature resistances of any FDM material, with a glass transition temperature of 231c!

Thanks to being Autoclavable and Gamma Sterilizable, we see this a lot in the medical industry.
Medical trays, surgical instrument handles, anesthesiology equipment. We’ve even seen this material placed in cryo-chambers, due to it’s excellent low-temperature performance. It’s also highly resistant to gamma radiation - even in large doses (10 Mrd). Often seen in hot water applications, plumbing, used as a replacement for brass in boiling water, or high-pressure applications. In Food Service it’s seen frequently, now thanks to being BPA-free abd biologically inert, safe for food-contact. The high chemical resistance of materials like PPSU means they can operate even when submerged in a severe chemical environment, where many metals are prone to dissolving.

WHAT KIND OF MACHINE DO YOU NEED TO PRINT THIS FILAMENT?

Print Temperature: 390-410 C
Bed Temperature: 130-150 C - for adhesive, our Nano Polymer Adhesive works great!
Chamber Temperature: Definitely 90c+ -- this stuff loves warping. The closer you can get to the TG, the better.


Drying: yes, you MUST dry this filament. Like almost every thermoplastic, this does need to be dried thoroughly before processing, which is the fancy word for melting.

Drying Kits can be found here: visionminer.com/drykit


BASIC MATERIAL SPECS:
Heat Deflect Temp of 190C
Glass Transition point of 23a C
Melt Point: 343 - 388 °C

PPSU is an amorphous thermoplastic, meaning it can be annealed to great affect!

For Tensile strength, you get around 55MPa, and a tensile modulus of 2310MPa on the ISO 527 standard, but keep in mind the way your part is designed and the orientation at which it’s printed will have a dramatic effect on strength. You’ll lose a certain percentage in the z-axis, depending how the part is printed.

All data sheets are available on our online store, at visionminer.com/data, so you can find the tensile modulus, elongation, impact strength, and more.

For UV resistance, it’s good, but long-term exposure of PPSU to direct sunlight significantly decreases the material’s ductility, meaning it becomes more brittle, and loses some of that tensile elongation and impact strength. It also will change color over time. However, UV radiation doesn’t affect mechanical properties like the tensile strength or Young’s modulus.

For Sterilization: it’s awesome for the whole gamut -- EtO gas, radiation, steam autoclaving, plasma, dry heat, and cold sterilization.

For chemical resistance, it’s great for most common automotive fluids, including gasoline, antifreeze, transmission fluid, motor oil, power steering fluid, windshield washer fluid, etc

It’s a very strong insulator, with a dielectric constant of 3.21, and a dissipation factor of 0.00926.

Solvay is an autoclavable, radiotranslucent, flame retardant, and detergent resistant, all while being biocompatible, with FDA, USDA and USP Class VI compliance

Great for food contact, being FDA and NSF-compliant under standards 51 and 61.

FAA Regulation Compliant for low smoke, continuous exposure to moisture and impact
Parts made from the material can withstand over 1,000 autoclave cycles without significant loss of mechanical properties.


Check out our other videos for the full comparisons!

FUME EXTRACTOR:
visionminer.com/BOFA​

At Vision Miner, we specialize in Functional 3D printing, especially high-performance plastics like PEEK, ULTEM, PPSU, PPS, CFPA, and more. If you're interested in using functional 3D printing and materials in your business, feel free to reach out, and we can help you make the right choice for your application.

Call 833-774-6863 or email contact@visionminer.com, and we're here to help!