Zetamix Silicon Carbide
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Zetamix Silicon Carbide

ZETAMIX-SILICON-CARB-175-500
349.00 € 349.00 €
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Nanoe, a renowned manufacturer of industrial 3D printing materials, are most famous for the Zetamix ceramic and metallic filament line, which the Zetamix Silicon Carbide filament is part of. It is a hard (Shore 56 D) and dense ceramic filament made of silicon carbide powder and polyolefin based binders.

Video 1: Meet Zetamix By Nanoe. Source: Nanoe.

Silicon carbide, also known as carborundum or SiC, is a chemical compound containing silica sand and carbon, produced by a carbothermal reduction of silica to an ultra-hard covalently bonded material. It is an extremely rare material in nature (but very common in space), only found in the form of the mineral moissanite.

Piezas impresas con Silicon Crbide

Image 1: Parts 3D printed with the ceramic Zetamix Silicon Carbide filament. Source: Nanoe.

Since 1893 silicon carbide has been produced in powder form to be used as an abrasive in grinding wheels and cutting tools. Since then it has found many applications, for example in car brakes, car clutches, bulletproof vests, LEDs, semiconductors, mirrors in astronomical telescopes, thermistors, varistors, heating elements in electric furnaces, as well as the production of graphene or diamond simulants.

Piezas impresas con Zetamix Carbide Silicon

Image 2: Parts 3D printed with the ceramic Zetamix Silicon Carbide filament. Source: Nanoe.

Carborundum is an extremely hard material due to its unique structure made up of tetrahedra (triangular pyramids) of carbon and silicon atoms with very strong bonds in the crystal lattice. The hardness is paired with a high elastic modulus and relative lightness. Silicon carbide is also very resistant to wear, corrosion and oxidation. Silicone carbide also has good electrical conductivity (hence its use as a semiconductor), a low coefficient of thermal expansion, and it maintains mechanical stability at high temperatures, which makes it a thermal shock resistant material.

The high stiffness of the Silicon Carbide filament makes it hard to be machined as the material becomes brittle and requires diamond grinding techniques. Nanoe recommends shaping the part 3D printed with the Silicon Carbide filament before sintering, this way obtaining innovative shapes and avoiding machining difficulties.

The Zetamix Silicon Carbide filament can be used to 3D print parts with excellent chemical, mechanical and thermal resistance for various industries on most classical FFF 3D printers at 120 ºC. Once the part is 3D printed, it should go through the process of debinding and sintering, and the result will be a 100 % silicon carbide part with advanced properties and many potential applications.

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General information
Manufacturer Nanoe (Zetamix)
Material Ceramic + binder
Format 500 g
Density - g/cm³
Filament diameter 1.75 mm
Amount of filler (volume) 52 %
Amount of filler (mass) 78 %

Printing properties
Printing temperature 120 ºC
Print bed temperature 50 ºC
Cooling fan 100 %
Recommended printing speed 15 - 30 mm/s
Recommended nozzle diameter Min. 0.4 mm

Mechanical properties
Elongation at break - %
Tensile strength - MPa
Tensile modulus - MPa
Flexural strength - MPa
Flexural modulus - MPa
Surface hardness Shore 56 D

Thermal properties
Softening temperature - ºC

Sintering properties
Maximum temperature 2000 ºC

Other
HS Code 8108.9060

In order to make sure the 3D prints with the Zetamix Silicon Carbide filament are successful, it is highly recommended to read the Design Guide (Downloads). It contains tips on what parameters to use to achieve the desired parts.

For 3D printing complex geometries with support materials, the Silicon Carbide filament can be used as its own support. A soluble support material can also be used. To achieve a great surface quality at least 3 dense top layers should be printed between the support structure and the part.

For obtaining the best surface quality the manufacturer recommends using a glass printing surface. An nozzle with a diameter between 0.4 mm to 1.0 mm (0.6 mm recommended) should be used to 3D print with the Zetamix Silicon Carbide filament. An ultrasonic bath can be used to detach the part from the build plate.

The debinding process consists of two steps: solvent debinding and thermal debinding:

  1. Solvent debinding - this step should remove about 12 % of the weight of the part.

    1. Solvent bath: the part should be submerged in an acetone bath at 40 ºC. This step will take a minimum of 2 hours or more, depending on the wall thickness and part geometry.

    2. Drying: Once taken out of the acetone bath, the parts should be dried in ambient air on a tissue. Similarly to the previous step, this can take 2 or more hours, depending on the part geometry and wall thickness.

  2. Thermal debinding - the parts should be placed on a crucible on a refractory powder bed. This will accommodate shrinkage and support the part during debinding. The tested and recommended process takes 3.5 days and consists in gradually raising the temperature from 20 ºC to 700 ºC at a rate of 10 ºC per hour.

The sintering process requires temperatures of over 2000 ºC, which means it has to be contracted with the manufacturer with the help of the Nanoe sintering coupon. This is due to the fact that the Zetamix tubular sintering furnace can only reach temperatures of up to 1550 ºC.

 It should be kept in mind that a change of volume will occur due to shrinkage (16-22 %) and the scale in the slices should be modified before 3D printing (see Design Guide in Downloads). The sintering process has three steps resumed below:

  1. RT > 150°C at a 100°C/h pace, under secondary vacuum, in 1 hours and 30 minutes.

  2. 150°C > 2200°C at a pace of up to 300°C/h, 1 hour holding time, under partial vacuum (90 mb argon) in 8 hours and 20 minutes.

  3. 2200°C > RT at a maximum pace of 300 °C/h, return to secondary vacuum under 1000°C, in 7 hours and 20 minutes.

More information on the debinding and sintering process with the Zetamix Silicon Carbide filament, as well as on the printing parameters, can be found in the Guidelines document in the Downloads section.

Featured properties

Printing temperature
120 ºC
Filament diameter
1.75 mm

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