3D PRINTING BASICS

CONTENTS

 

Material research has evolved over time and the materials available for 3D printing have come a long way since the early days of the technology. There is now a wide variety of different material types, that are supplied in different states (powder, filament, pellets, granules, resin etc). PLA and ABS are the materials most often used in 3D printing. Among other materials you may find glass polyamide, epoxy resin, wax and even metals like titanium, silver and even steel.

 

Specific materials are now generally developed for specific platforms performing dedicated applications (an example would be the dental sector) with material properties that more precisely suit the application.

 

However, there are now way too many proprietary materials from the many different 3D printer vendors to cover them all here. Hence, we will attempt to cover the more common materials used  

 

PLA  (PolyLactic Acid)

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/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PLA is made of corn starch and some more renewables. It’s absolutely harmless and biodegradable. It can be printable at lower temperatures than ABS, thus it’s safer. However, it’s no good for printing things that are to be heated, like coffee cups. ABS is ecologically friendly and almost scentless. But it’s not so solid and resistant as ABS. PLA is better for everyday use, whereas ABS is useful for more challenging tasks.

 

• Emits at 180 – 200°C

• Glass transition temperature is about 60 – 65 °C

• Heated bed is not necessary

• It is cooled during printing

• Sticks well to various surfaces

• Liable to curling at edges and overhangs

• Fragile

• No smell at all

• Corn-based, harmless, ecologically friendly

 

Commonly used in FDM.

 

ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene)

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/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABS may be familiar to you as lego toys have it as one of the components. It is not heavy, solid, tough and resistant. ABS twirls up as it gets cooler, so you will need a warm printer bed. You will catch a smell of hot plastic while printing. You will find it useful for creating cutlery, tools and things that are meant to be warmed up.

 

• Emits at 210-250°C

• Glass transition temperature is about 105°C

• Heated bed required

• No extra cooling required

• Sticks well to polyimide tape

• Liable to spliting, delamination, distortion

• Pliable

• Smells like melting plastic while processing

• Petroleum-based

 

Commonly Used in FDM.

 

3D support filaments are the class of materials that come into play when you print 3D objects that have big overlaps. You cannot start printing something in the air if there is no anything underneath of the object. The wonderful solution for this problem has come to mind of one of 3D printing enthusiasts to use temporary material that would support upper layers during printing and would dissolve in water after objects are ready. Today we are going to discuss two filament types that has named properties, that are HIPS and PVA.

 

PVA (PolyVinyl Alcohol)

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/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PVA filaments (Polyvinyl alcohol) are easy to print with and used to support an object during printing process for those models with overhangs that normally would not be printed. This type of filament is a great material for a 3D printer with dual extruder. It is based on polyvinyl alcohol so it has pretty good properties, the main of them are non-toxicity and biodegradability once dissolved in water. Usually PVA dissolves in cold water but the process would go faster in hot water. Please read technical specification of the material though. Manufactures usually do not recommend to dissolve the material in water with a temperature higher than 70˚C (158˚ F).

 

Because of its high extensible structure PVA filaments can be considered only for restricted application. It can be used on all common desktop FDM or FFF technology 3D printers and requires a heated build platform (HBP) or simply heated bed set at ±55-60˚C. Do not exceed printing temperatures above 225˚C.

 

Commonly Used in FDM.

 

HIPS(High Impact Polystyrene)

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/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HIPS filament is made from a High Impact Polystyrene material and it is another example of support 3d materials. This material is well spread in food industry for packaging. It is also used to pack CD discs and to produce trays in medicine. All these applications put this material at 5th place after Polyethylene, Polyvinyl, Chloride and Polypropylene among produced polymers worldwide. Naturally this filament has bright white color and it is also biodegradable so there are no adverse effect when it is put in tight contact with a human or animal body. HIPS filaments have curling and adhesion problems, which can be reduced by using a heated bed during the printing. As was published in 3DPPVD blog it was HIPS material that can also be used as support structure during the printing and then dissolved in a colorless liquid hydrocarbon Limonene.

 

Commonly Used in FDM.