Tungsten you can print
Solid tungsten is famously hard to shape. It melts at about 3,400 °C and sinters at about 2,734 °C, far beyond any normal furnace. Rapid 3DShield Tungsten sidesteps that problem. It is 88–94% tungsten in a PLA-based binder, prints on standard FFF printers, and is used as printed. No sintering is needed or intended.
Specifications
- Tungsten content: 88.0–94.0%
- Filament density: 7.80–9.20 g/cc
- Diameters: 1.75 mm and 2.85 mm
- Spools: 0.5, 1, 3 and 5 kg. Pellets: 1, 3 and 5 kg
- Nozzle: 0.8 mm hardened steel, standard flow
- Prints similar to PLA, with minimal to no warping
- Do not dry. It is less hygroscopic than PLA, and drying degrades the binder.
Check your density
Shielding depends on printed density, so check it. Print our density calibration model. It should weigh 5.5 g or more. If it's lighter, adjust flow and settings before printing shielding parts. Use 100% infill for shields.
Where it's used
- Radiopharmaceutical and PET dose shielding: syringe, vial and container shields
- X-ray collimators and beam-shaping components
- Nuclear maintenance: pipe guards, valve covers, camera shielding
- Non-destructive testing (NDT) equipment components
- Counterweights and balancing masses where high density matters
- Research and prototype shielding configurations
Performance data
All of our radiation data comes from green-state (as-printed) testing. See the test data. Solid-metal handbook values overstate what a printed part does. A print at 7.8–9.2 g/cc needs roughly 2.1–2.5× the thickness of solid tungsten for the same mass per unit area.
Working on a shielding program or ordering by PO? Email [email protected]. · Tungsten filament · Boron carbide filament