Novel 3D Tungsten Radiation Shielding Filament

The Virtual Foundry, a manufacturer of metal 3D printing filaments, has released a new tungsten radiation shielding filament, the Rapid 3DShield Tungsten.

This material is the densest FFF filament the company has produced to date, providing the benefits of radiation shielding without the need for debinding or sintering. This filament contains 92-95% metal and is suitable for medical, security, non-destructive testing, and x-ray fluorescent radiation shielding applications.

The Virtual Foundry was one of the first companies to bring FDM desktop metal printing to the market with its proprietary Filamet filament. When combined with FDM, Filamet produces unique prints that are infused with flecks of metallic elements that, once they have been subjected to secondary processing techniques involving kilns and the company's "black magic powder," result in pure metal parts.

Compatible with virtually all existing FDM/FFF 3D printers, Filamet can be used to make metal prototypes and scalable short-run manufacturing systems using an open market approach. The Virtual Foundry's filament range includes stainless steel, copper, bronze, alumina, zirconium silicate, high-carbon iron and tungsten, all of which can be sintered to high densities.

In recent years, the company has seen a rapidly growing demand for its materials and technologies in the automotive, aerospace, military, and education sectors, and has worked with organizations such as NASA, Mitsubishi, and the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE).

The Virtual Foundry recently partnered with 3D printing service provider Sapphire3D and CNC machine tool manufacturer Levil Technology to provide a complete metal 3D printing lab. The system includes The Virtual Foundry's metal 3D printing filament, Levil's EDU-Mill equipped with an industrial-grade dual-head 3D printer, and Sapphire3D's kiln.

Rapid 3DShield was founded in 2019 as a joint venture between The Virtual Foundry and Vulcan Global Manufacturing Solutions to develop dense, non-toxic 3D printing materials with radiation shielding capabilities.

After several years of research, the company's Rapid 3DShield Tungsten filament is now available. Remarkably, this filament does not require debinding or sintering to achieve its radiation shielding properties and can be printed like the company's other Filamet materials.

The filament contains approximately 92% tungsten, making it the highest density filament produced by The Virtual Foundry. In fact, the company believes it is the densest FFF filament on the market today, at 7.51 g/cc.

In addition to being suitable for medical, security, NDT, and X-ray fluorescence applications, Rapid 3DShield tungsten can also be used for other high-density technical applications, such as counterweight and shockproofing.

The tungsten radiation shielding filament is available in diameters of 1.75 mm or 2.85 mm and can be 3D printed on conventional FDM 3D printers using hardened steel nozzles. Due to its particularly high density, the only color currently available is dark gray.

Tungsten carbide is an inorganic, unnatural compound made from tungsten and carbon, rare metals that occur naturally in the earth. The basic form of the material consists of a fine gray powder that can be sintered and pressed and formed into shapes for use in industrial equipment.

Although versatile, this material is prone to fracture and breakage during exposure to laser-based 3D printing of metals. To address this issue, the University of Pittsburgh and General Carbide, a Pennsylvania-based manufacturer of composite metals, were awarded a $57,529 grant to study a variety of tungsten carbide-based powders that could be used in an adhesive injection 3D printer.

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