PC (Polycarbonate)

Sources:

http://3dprintingfromscratch.com/common/3d-printing-materials/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fused_deposition_modeling

http://3dprintingindustry.com/3d-printing-basics-free-beginners-guide/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Polycarbonate (PC) is an extremely strong, impact resistant thermoplastic material which is widely used in automotive, aerospace, medical and many other areas. PC has great mechanical properties and heat resistance. 3D parts printed with PC are accurate, strong and durable. PC filament type has the second highest tensile strength among all FDM materials. The material is also biocompatible and can be sterilizable that is why it is so extremely popular for prototyping needs, functional testing, tooling and composite work. The material should be extruded at or above 300°C and high heat deflection temperature is 138°C.

 

Commonly Used in FDM.

 

TPE (ThermoPlastic Elastomer)

Sources:

http://3dprintingfromscratch.com/common/3d-printing-materials/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fused_deposition_modeling

http://3dprintingindustry.com/3d-printing-basics-free-beginners-guide/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TPE material with its high elastic characteristics feels like rubber that bounces back and forth into the shape. This material is good for FDM printers that at the same time can be used for ABS and PLA filaments. Printing temperature range for TPE filaments is 210 – 230°C. The material has high elasticity and excellent abrasion resistance, as well as consistent diameter and smooth feeding properties.  Filament easily sticks to build platform and bonds between layers. All mentioned above allows to print high-quality things. The material doesn’t contain any toxins but still is not recommended for food contact pieces. NinjaFlex filament is one of examples of thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) that is especially flexible for 3D printers.

 

FilaFlex is another high flexible material similar to NinjaFlex but even softer then his close-in neighbor of 3D filaments. The material is compatible almost with all 3D printers and has printing temperature range from 220 to 230°C. It also doesn’t require a heated bed and is non-toxic and resistant to acetone, fuel and dissolvent. Both NinjaFlex and FilaFlex are rubber-like materials and less prone to deformation from stretching then soft PLA, which is another example of flexible materials for 3D printing.

 

Commonly Used in FDM.

 

Soft PLA or Flex EcoPLA

Sources:

http://3dprintingfromscratch.com/common/3d-printing-materials/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fused_deposition_modeling

http://3dprintingindustry.com/3d-printing-basics-free-beginners-guide/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soft PLA is a flexible 3D printing material with great roundness and tight  diameter that also feels like rubber. It can be used to print different flexible parts such as soft toys, flip-flops, molds, tires or gripping surfaces.The material is extremely tough and resistant to delimitation which makes it awesome material to experiments but sometimes tricky to print with. There could be several problems during printing with this material including filament buckling and tangling inside of stepstruder. Filament Buckling can be caused by jams before getting to the extruder, which can be eliminated by simply unspooling of needed amount of filament.

 

Also there could be a lack of support inside extruder and problems with semi-jammed nozzle. But all these and other issues with this filament is just a matter of practice and experiment that definitely worth trying. Great advice in case of jamming issues during printing is to keep down the layer height which would maximize layer-to-layer bonding, reduce print speed and increase distance between nozzle and platform. Other settings should be pretty similar to traditional PLA to achieve the best results.  Previously loaded material can cause jamming at the beginning of printing so it’s better to reload filament each time using 3D printer.

 

Commonly Used in FDM.