<p>There was a contest to develop 3D printable files for the International Space Station's 3D printer.  The winner got a 3D printer ... runners up got Fluke DVOM's and all entrants got a t-shirt.</p>

<p>ISS 3D Print Contest</p>

<p>They offer 3 materials:  ABS, HDPE, and PEI+PC ... I'm not familiar with the last one. Anyone know?</p>

<p>If found this material on Matweb: <a href="http://www.matweb.com/search/DataSheet.aspx?MatGUID=949ca0fa6b1742bea8e8d26ea2fd3d48t" rel="nofollow noreferrer">PEI+PC Alloy</a></p>

<p>These links are thought to last a very long time.  I hope many of you decide to upload a project into contest site and compete for the grand prize ... A sweet John Fluke DVOM.  If nothing else a free awesome T-shirt.</p>

[{'answer_id': 1561, 'author': 'fred_dot_u', 'author_id': 854, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/854', 'pm_score': 1, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>PEI - polyethermide is a "common" coating for heated print beds. PC is so many different things, but in this context, it\'s likely to mean polycarbonate plastic. From what I\'ve read, it\'s challenging to print with and especially challenging to get a good bond on the build plate. One reference suggests to use a PEI coated bed with a slurry of ABS applied prior to printing. As with so many things 3d printer related, many people have many different methods. The above one appears to be well received as a successful method.</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 1568, 'author': 'Ryan Carlyle', 'author_id': 298, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/298', 'pm_score': 2, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>Apparently the Made In Space printer can print an exotic alloy of PEI (ultem) and PC (polycarbonate). </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Ultem is a super-premium material for industrial FDM printers, and requires a very high temp heated build chamber to print. Hobbyists use it as a build plate -- Stratasys uses it as filament in their most expensive FDM machines. </li>\n<li>Polycarbonate is a specialty material that benefits from a heated chamber but is just barely printable on hobbyist level machines. (I print a fair amount of PC -- it makes ABS seem easy in comparison.) </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>By alloying PC with PEI, they are presumably optimizing some kind of performance parameter compared to ultem alone or polycarbonate alone. Exactly what material properties they get will depend considerably on the ratio of the two polymers. Ultem is exceptionally heat-resistant, quite stiff, and extremely strong. PC is very heat resistant, and has exceptional impact toughness. Blends of the two can be somewhat stiffer than either, with most other properties resembling the weighted average of the two base materials. It really depends on the mix, which we don\'t know.</p>\n\n<p>This is analogous to the PC-ABS blend filaments we sometimes use. You get reasonably intermediate properties. </p>\n\n<p>So, it\'s basically super-filament that NASA might want to use to make "production" parts in space. I would expect a HUGE degree of warping if not printed in extremely well-controlled conditions. But the Made In Space printer was intensely engineered for this task, so I have to assume they have it all figured out. </p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 2636, 'author': 'Teddy Lee', 'author_id': 3860, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/3860', 'pm_score': 3, 'selected': True, 'text': '<p>Ultem 9085, the most common ultem resin used for AM, is a blend of PEI-PC, as seen here <a href="https://www.sabic-ip.com/gepapp/Plastics/servlet/ProductsAndServices/Product/series?sltPrdline=ULTEM&amp;sltPrdseries=Aerospace%20and%20Transportation&amp;search=Search#searchresults" rel="nofollow">https://www.sabic-ip.com/gepapp/Plastics/servlet/ProductsAndServices/Product/series?sltPrdline=ULTEM&amp;sltPrdseries=Aerospace%20and%20Transportation&amp;search=Search#searchresults</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Ultem is a trade name for PEI alloys made by Sabic and 9085, used in filaments made by both Stratasys and 3dXtech as the two most visible suppliers are both made with this same alloy. It is used for high temperature resistance and strength and needs to be printed at upwards of 300C in a contained environment.</p>\n\n<p>Source-Intern at Made in Space.</p>\n'}]
['https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/1560', 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com', 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/2497/']