Boeing has hired Oxford Performance Materials, Inc. (OPM), a leader in advanced materials science and high-performance additive manufacturing (HPAM™), to make about 600 3-D printed parts for its CST-100 Starliner – a futuristic “space taxi.” The Starliner’s primary mission is to transport crew to the International Space Station and to private space stations such as the proposed Bigelow Aerospace Commercial Space Station.
The 3-D printed parts will be made with OPM’s patented OXFAB® technology, which features the company’s proprietary poly-ether-ketone-ketone (PEKK) formulation. OPM describes it as a “high-performance polymeric material” with “an extraordinary range of benefits that include robust mechanical performance, extreme temperature tolerance, high purity, gamma stability, and extremely high chemical resistance.”
The actual additive manufacturing process OPM uses is called selective laser melting. The method is a free-form, tool-less process which produces “uniform, near-isotropic properties with exceptional build fidelity and nearly limitless design possibilities.”
