Filamet Stainless steel 17-4

The Virtual Foundry is an American company pioneering the development of metal and ceramic filaments for FDM 3D printing after many years of research and development. Their products are aimed at solving and simplifying problems through innovative metallic materials for FDM 3D printers of all types.

Stainless steel 17-4 filament is a filament belonging to the Filamet™ family containing about 85% metal and having a density of 3.0 g/cc.

Image 1. Part printed with 17-4 Filamet stainless steel filament. Source: The Virtual Foundry

17-4 stainless steel is characterised by a very good corrosion resistance and high wear resistance. Due to this and its good mechanical properties, this material is used in the naval sector, the chemical industry, the wood industry, the oil industry or the aerospace industry, among others.

Filamet Stainless Steel 17-4 filament, consisting of 85% stainless steel 17-4 and the rest of PLA, is an extremely easy material to print, as its printing properties are similar to those of PLA, which allows any user of an FDM 3D printer to create parts with this filament.

The special feature of Filamet Stainless Steel 17-4 filament, like the other materials in the Filamet range, is that it allows the user to manufacture completely metallic parts. Once a part has been 3D printed, it is necessary to sinter it, in an open environment or in a vacuum or inert environment, to remove the polymer (PLA). To learn more about the entire printing, sintering and post-processing process, please visit the "Tips for Use" section.

Filamet™ 17-4 achieves similar properties to those possible with DMLS technology but with certain limitations. Due to the need to sinter the parts printed with this filament, where PLA is removed, the parts show porosity, volume loss and non-isotropy. DMLS 3D printers can print completely solid parts (similar to cast iron), with great detail, layer heights of 0.02 mm and without the need for post-processing, the only disadvantage compared to Filamet™ FDM 3D printing being the cost of: material, manufacture and the printers themselves.

Due to its high metal content (85 %), it is necessary to position the filament inlet as close as possible to the extruder and to use FilaWarmer, a heater through which the filament is fed in order to eliminate its curvature so that as little friction as possible is produced in the extruder and HotEnd.

Users who do not have a furnace with the necessary properties to sinter parts printed with Filamet™ 17-4 stainless steel and achieve the final properties of this metal, can contact us and we will assess their viability through our collaborators with the capacity to carry out the post-processing necessary to obtain the desired final result.