ASTM D256 Impact Strength of 3D Printing Peek

With the increasing use of high performance engineered plastics, PEEK is likely to be the key alternative material to glass, steel, aluminum, and other polymers. Its strength and durability make it highly accepted for a wide range of applications (automotive, biomedical and more) that require a resistance to relatively high temperatures and aggressive environments while keeping excellent mechanical properties.

3D-printed PEEK materials are nowadays of great interests to the additive manufacturing research community for their flexibility in making parts especially for complex structures and for low-volume production or special designs.

There are many factors to consider in 3D printing: there can be a wide variance of mechanical properties including impact strength (after annealing).

3D printing PEEK presents an apparent thermal deformation during the printing process and the layer bonding is not as good as other 3D printing plastics.

There are few researches about the impact strength evaluation aimed to understand the ability of the material to withstand against impact load. Extensive testing and heat treatment process deserve further studies to confirm the properties of the material and ensure that print parts are optimized.