{"id":22464,"date":"2026-06-17T10:17:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T08:17:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prototal.info\/cases\/effects-of-repeat-cleaning-and-steam-sterilisation-on-additively-manufactured-nylon-pa2200-sls-with-and-without-vapour-smoothing\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T02:56:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T00:56:10","slug":"effects-of-repeat-cleaning-and-steam-sterilisation-on-additively-manufactured-nylon-pa2200-sls-with-and-without-vapour-smoothing","status":"publish","type":"case_studies","link":"https:\/\/prototal.info\/uk\/cases\/effects-of-repeat-cleaning-and-steam-sterilisation-on-additively-manufactured-nylon-pa2200-sls-with-and-without-vapour-smoothing\/","title":{"rendered":"Effects of Repeat Cleaning and Steam Sterilisation on Additively Manufactured Nylon PA2200 (SLS), With and Without Vapour Smoothing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can Additively Manufactured PA2200 Withstand Repeated Sterilisation?<\/h2>\n\n<p>Nylon PA2200 (Polyamide 12) is widely used in powder-bed additive manufacturing, notably Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) and Multi-Jet Fusion (MJF). For medical applications, such as reusable surgical guides, handling tools, and instrument bodies, the material\u2019s ability to withstand repeated cleaning and steam sterilisation is essential. This study evaluates the geometric stability, tensile properties, and flexural properties of PA2200 printed via SLS, both as printed and after vapour smoothing, following 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 cleaning + sterilisation cycles in an NHS hospital environment.  <\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Objectives<\/h3>\n\n<p>The study aimed to:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Assess geometric stability of PA2200 (SLS) after repeated cleaning + steam sterilisation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Quantify tensile property changes across sterilisation cycles (ISO527-2).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Quantify flexural property changes across sterilisation cycles (ISO178).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Evaluate the effect of vapour smoothing on PA2200\u2019s ability to resist degradation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Findings<\/h3>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Mechanical properties degraded to ~70% of original tensile strength and ~80% of flexural stiffness by 100 cycles, with most of the change occurring before 20 cycles.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Geometric dimensions remained stable, with all changes falling inside nominal manufacturing tolerances.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Vapour smoothing showed no statistically significant impact, positive or negative, on stability or degradation rate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Download the full white paper<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/prototal.info\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/wp0001-01-effects-of-repeat-cleaning-and-steam-sterilisation-on-additively-manufactured-nylon-pa2200-white-paper-draft-2.pdf\">here <\/a>to explore the complete methodology, statistical analysis and detailed results.<\/p>\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Can Additively Manufactured PA2200 Withstand Repeated Sterilisation? Nylon PA2200 (Polyamide 12) is widely used in powder-bed additive manufacturing, notably Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) and Multi-Jet Fusion (MJF). For medical applications, such as reusable surgical guides, handling tools, and instrument bodies, the material\u2019s ability to withstand repeated cleaning and steam sterilisation is essential. This study evaluates [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":22563,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[],"class_list":["post-22464","case_studies","type-case_studies","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Effects of Repeat Cleaning and Steam Sterilisation on Additively Manufactured Nylon PA2200 (SLS), With and Without Vapour Smoothing | Prototal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/prototal.info\/uk\/cases\/effects-of-repeat-cleaning-and-steam-sterilisation-on-additively-manufactured-nylon-pa2200-sls-with-and-without-vapour-smoothing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Effects of Repeat Cleaning and Steam Sterilisation on Additively Manufactured Nylon PA2200 (SLS), With and Without Vapour Smoothing | Prototal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Can Additively Manufactured PA2200 Withstand Repeated Sterilisation? 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