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(WORKING)Material Comparisons

It can be daunting to have literally hundreds of colors and materials to choose from.

TPU "Thermoplastic PolyUrethane", TPE "ThermoPlastic Elastomer", Flexible-PLA, etc.

  • Softest material
    • Has more in common with rubber than plastic
  • Best impact resistance
  • Adequate temperature resistance
    • Innate flexibility allows use well above the glass transition temperature
  • Moisture
    • TPU and TPE filaments MUST be dry!
    • Moist filament has horrible print quality
    • Weaknesses are created in each layer by Steam bubbles
  • Opinions
    • Medium to poor aesthetic print quality
    • Printing a flexible material offers a new door of possibilities for home 3D printers
  • Uses
    • Anything that needs to be flexible or survive regular & significant impacts


PETG, PETG+, PETG-Pro, etc.

  • Prints on most printers capable of PLA
  • Adequate temperature resistance


ABS "Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene"

  • Requires higher temperature "All Metal" hot end
  • Negative issues
    • Warping
    • Possible layer delamination
    • Noxious off-gassing
  • Prefers enclosure/print chamber to be kept around half it's glass transition point (~50c)
  • Any plastic containing Styrene stinks when printing
  • My Opinion: Mostly seal a 3d printer into an enclosure to keep both Heat and Stink inside while printing
    • Thin nylon photography tents might be OK if the room is already REALLY warm but they loose heat quickly
    • Thin plastic sheeting works better than nylon but suffers from poor insulation qualities if ambient is chilly
    • Large cardboard box worked great but I didn't like unfolding the flaps to touch printer each time
    • IKEA LACK table with foam-core craft board walls/door made for excellent insulation


ASA

  • Requires higher temperature "All Metal" hot end


PC

  • Requires higher temperature "All Metal" hot end


PP

  • Requires higher temperature "All Metal" hot end


PA, Nylon, etc.

  • Requires higher temperature "All Metal" hot end


PE

  • Requires higher temperature "All Metal" hot end


PLA "PolyLactic Acid", PLA+, PLA-Pro, etc.

  • Stiffest material
    • Generally bends less easily than other materials
  • Hardest material
    • Resists deformation by a pointy thing better than most (at least to start with...)
  • Very poor temperature resistance
    • Prints left in a hot car will likely deform
  • Very poor impact resistance
    • PLA Hammer + Nail = Plastic Shrapnel
  • Very poor creep resistance
    • PLA shelf bracket + (insert time) = Shelf on floor
    • I use PLA for a ton of things, but when it MUST hold weight, I use PC or PA depending on impact requirement
  • "+" and "Pro" modifiers vary wildly between manufacturers
    • Make no assumptions about the modifiers; test EVERY new material
  • Deterioration
    • Increased stringing with more moisture typically, but usually very mild compared to PETG, TPU, etc.
    • Embrittlement with extended moisture or UltraViolet light exposure
      • These traits seem to follow the base material rather than the additives or colorants
      • Some transparent, translucent, or silk filaments seemed to be comparatively less affected 
  • Opinions
    • Best for aesthetic print quality
    • Seems to creep under significant stresses
    • Favorite material for prototyping $$$ (prototypes become finished products when they work the first time)
  • Uses
    • Anything that will live inside a home, but will not have large physical stress placed upon it
  • Known Exceptions (to the normal rules)
    • Protopasta HTPLA (High Temperature Polylactic Acid)
      • Prints like normal PLA then heat treated at increasing temperatures to get ~100c heat deflection temp!
      • Warpage during heat treat process can be an issue for some part geometries
    • Lay-Filaments Reflect-O-Lay Flexible PLA




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