Lyten, Modovolo Advance Graphene 3D Printing for Aerospace

Updated on August 13, 2026 • 5 min read

Lyten and Modovolo are expanding their collaboration around large-format additive manufacturing, combining Modovolo’s modular BFP 3D printing platform with Lyten’s 3D Graphene-enhanced PA1205 filament.

The companies are targeting high-performance components for aviation, automotive and industrial machinery, with the material and printing platform optimized together to deliver lighter, stronger parts while supporting faster printing.

The partnership also supports the global expansion of Modovolo’s BFP platform, which was developed as a U.S.-sourced and U.S.-manufactured system for producing large and complex commercial-, industrial- and defense-grade components.

BFP Targets Large, Complex Parts

Modovolo developed the BFP around a modular and transportable architecture.

Rather than relying solely on conventional fixed additive manufacturing installations, the system is designed so that manufacturing capability can be deployed where components are needed, including more demanding operating environments.

The company says this approach can help reduce supply chain dependencies while maintaining the quality required for aerospace applications.

An important part of that strategy is the material running through the printer.

Modovolo selected Lyten’s PA1205 after evaluating high-performance filament options for the platform.

Justin Call, Modovolo CEO and co-founder, said PA1205 enables the company to produce stronger and lighter parts while improving print finish and speed compared with competing products evaluated by Modovolo.

Graphene-Enhanced Nylon Replaces Carbon Fiber Alternatives

Lyten’s PA1205 is a nylon-based filament enhanced with the company’s 3D Graphene technology.

According to Lyten, PA1205 delivers several performance improvements compared with the carbon fiber-based alternatives it tested, including:

• 100% higher X-Y axis tensile strength
• 40% higher Z-axis tensile strength
• 50% higher impact resistance

The company also reports improved temperature performance, faster printing speeds and minimal warping without sacrificing dimensional accuracy.

These characteristics are particularly relevant for additive manufacturing because printed-part performance depends not only on the properties within individual deposited layers but also on the strength of the interfaces between those layers.

The reported improvement in Z-axis tensile strength therefore addresses an important performance consideration for parts produced through fused-filament processes.

Material and Printer Developed as a Combined System

The collaboration illustrates how additive manufacturing development is increasingly moving beyond treating the printer and feedstock as independent technologies.

Modovolo has optimized the BFP platform to operate with Lyten’s PA1205 filament, allowing printing parameters and material behavior to be considered together.

For manufacturers producing larger functional components, this integration can influence print speed, dimensional stability, surface quality and final mechanical properties.

Modovolo sees the filament as sufficiently important to describe it as an integral part of its future product roadmap.

Partnership Builds on Drone Manufacturing

The relationship between the companies predates the latest BFP initiative.

Modovolo has been using Lyten filaments since 2025 to manufacture components for its Lift Quadcopter-X, an ultralight multi-payload drone developed for commercial, first responder and defense applications.

The new collaboration extends that material experience from Modovolo’s own drone applications into a broader manufacturing platform intended for customers producing high-performance components.

Expanding High-Performance Polymer Additive Manufacturing

Carbon fiber-filled thermoplastics have become a familiar material option for manufacturers seeking increased stiffness and dimensional stability from polymer additive manufacturing.

Lyten and Modovolo are pursuing a different route by using graphene-enhanced nylon rather than positioning carbon fiber reinforcement as the primary performance mechanism.

Based on the information released by the companies, PA1205’s principal claimed advantages are higher tensile and impact performance, lower weight, improved temperature capability and faster processing compared with the carbon fiber-based materials tested by Lyten.

The partnership will now use those characteristics as part of Modovolo’s effort to expand the BFP platform internationally.

For aerospace and industrial additive manufacturing, the development highlights a broader trend: material formulation, printing hardware and process optimization are increasingly being developed as an integrated manufacturing system rather than as separate technologies.

🔒 Content Transparency & Editorial Integrity

This article is developed based on real engineering experience, machine testing data, and practical production knowledge from Jota Machinery’s work in advanced composite manufacturing.

All technical explanations—including material structure, processing methods, and performance characteristics—are reviewed and verified by our engineering team to ensure accuracy and real-world relevance.

To improve clarity and structure, AI-assisted tools may have been used during content organization and language refinement. However:

• All key technical insights originate from first-hand industrial experience
• All data and claims are manually reviewed and validated
• The content is created with the primary goal of educating engineers, manufacturers, and buyers

We do not publish content solely for search ranking purposes. Every article is designed to provide practical, experience-based value to professionals in the composite materials industry.