3ders.org – Airwolf 3D’s supplies power check: What’s the strongest 3D printer filament?

July 29, 2017 | From David

There are many different 3D printing materials available to both the 3D printing hobbyist and the professional, and they can vary widely in terms of their key properties. As technology becomes more popular and accessible, it can be useful to test some of these materials to see how they compare against each other. A project recently reported on California’s 3D printer maker Airwolf3D’s website did just that, using one of the company’s machines to 3D print a hook that was then loaded with weight to determine which the strongest comes from a number of FDM / FFF filaments.

The materials tested were two of the most common 3D printing filaments, PLA and ABS, as well as nylon 910 and polycarbonate. After the hooks were 3D printed, they were placed on the end of a rope attached to a forklift truck. This was used to hold a tractor tire weighing about 150 pounds, and additional weights from Airwolf’s local Precision Fitness gym were added to increase the stakes even further.

The first hook was 3D printed with PLA, with the printer bed heated to 60 degrees Celsius. After the printing was complete, a layer of Wolfbite Nano was added. The PLA hook turned out to be surprisingly strong for such a simple and affordable filament. It survived intact at 285 pounds in weight, which gave it a tensile strength of 7,250 psi. However, the team did not recommend using the PLA material for structural objects or technical purposes. Its biodegradability, which makes it great for the environment, also means it won’t hold its shape for long and structural weaknesses will inevitably appear.

ABS was the next 3D printing material to be tested, a filament commonly used in all kinds of professional engineering projects, mainly for consumer products. It is such a useful material that Airwolf 3D made a desktop 3D printer that was compatible with it and was the first of its kind. In this case, the AXIOM machine was used with a bed heated to 120 degrees Celsius. Wolf bite was added again to end the hook. The ABS hook was found to be much weaker than the PLA and instantly snapped with the same 285 pound load that the PLA was holding. ABS has a tensile strength of around 4,700 psi.

Next came a more exotic material that was rarely used by hobbyists. Nylon 910 is widely used to make components and its estimated tensile strength is 7000 psi. In tests, the nylon hook proved incredibly strong after initial flexing, requiring a total load of 485 pounds to eventually break. Because of its strength, predictable performance, and properties, Airwolf 3D frequently uses nylon 910 in its own commercial products, with every 3D printer it has released in the past 3 years using nylon gears.

Finally, a polycarbonate material was used. Airwolf 3D first launched a desktop 3D printer that could print with polycarbonate in 2014 – the Airwolf HDx. High temperatures are critical when printing with polycarbonates. In this project, the print head was set to 290 degrees and the bed to 145 degrees Celsius. These temperatures are not possible with most desktop FDM / FFF devices, which is why Airwolf 3D launched its groundbreaking HDx 3D printer in the first place.

In this case, the axiom was used as with the other materials, and the hook turned out to be incredibly strong. It took 685 pounds to eventually break, and it has an estimated tensile strength of 9,800 psi. This makes polycarbonate the best choice for high-strength functional components and has been crowned by Airwolf 3D as the undisputed king of materials for desktop 3D printing.

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3ders.org – Airwolf 3D’s supplies power take a look at: What’s the strongest 3D printer filament?

July 29, 2017 | From David

There are many different 3D printing materials available to both the 3D printing hobbyist and the professional, and they can vary widely in terms of their key properties. As technology becomes more popular and accessible, it can be useful to test some of these materials to see how they compare against each other. A project recently reported on California’s 3D printer maker Airwolf3D’s website did just that, using one of the company’s machines to 3D print a hook that was then loaded with weight to determine which one the strongest comes from a number of FDM / FFF filaments.

The materials tested were two of the most common 3D printing filaments, PLA and ABS, as well as nylon 910 and polycarbonate. After the hooks were 3D printed, they were placed on the end of a rope attached to a forklift. This was used to hold a tractor tire weighing around 150 pounds, and additional weights from Airwolf’s local gym, Precision Fitness, were added to increase the stakes even further.

The first hook was 3D printed with PLA, with the printer bed heated to 60 degrees Celsius. When the printing was complete, a layer of Wolfbite Nano was added. The PLA hook turned out to be surprisingly strong for such a simple and affordable filament. It survived intact at 285 pounds, which gave it a tensile strength of 7,250 psi. However, the team did not recommend using the PLA material for structural objects or technical purposes. Its biodegradability, which makes it great for the environment, also means it won’t hold its shape for long and structural weaknesses will inevitably appear.

ABS was the next 3D printing material to be tested, a filament commonly used in all kinds of professional engineering projects, mainly for consumer products. It is such a useful material that Airwolf 3D made a desktop 3D printer that was compatible with it and was the first of its kind. In this case the AXIOM machine was used with a bed heated to 120 degrees Celsius. Wolf bite was added again to end the hook. The ABS hook was found to be much weaker than the PLA and instantly snapped with the same 285 pound load that the PLA was holding. ABS has a tensile strength of around 4,700 psi.

Next came a more exotic material that was rarely used by hobbyists. Nylon 910 is widely used to make components and its estimated tensile strength is 7000 psi. In tests, the nylon hook was found to be incredibly strong after initial flexing, requiring a total of 485 pounds of load to eventually break. Because of its strength, predictable performance, and properties, Airwolf 3D often uses nylon 910 in its own commercial products, with every 3D printer it has released in the past 3 years using nylon gears.

Finally, a polycarbonate material was used. Airwolf 3D first launched a desktop 3D printer that could print with polycarbonate in 2014 – the Airwolf HDx. High temperatures are critical when printing with polycarbonates. In this project the print head was set to 290 degrees and the bed to 145 degrees Celsius. These temperatures are not possible with most desktop FDM / FFF devices, which is why Airwolf 3D launched its groundbreaking HDx 3D printer in the first place.

In this case, the axiom was used as with the other materials, and the hook turned out to be incredibly strong. It took 685 pounds to eventually break, and it has an estimated tensile strength of 9,800 psi. This makes polycarbonate the best choice for high-strength functional components and has been crowned by Airwolf 3D as the undisputed material king for desktop 3D printing.

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3ders.org – Polymaker unveils PC-Max, their strongest 3D printing filament for load-bearing components

May 16, 2016 | From Alec

It must be a very busy time at Polymaker headquarters in Shanghai. Your crowdfunding campaign for the Polysher / Polysmooth layer removal kit is still ongoing (having raised more than $ 300,000), but they were also working on another major version of filament for 3D printers at the same time. Referred to as PC-Max, it is the toughest, strongest 3D printable filament ever – perfect for practical 3D printing projects, technical research, and structural components. They have added three new color options to their PolyPlus and PolyMax filaments.

Polymaker of course already has a wide range of excellent high-strength and impact-resistant filaments. So far was her strongest option PC plus, a popular polycarbonate filament with excellent material properties. PC-Max is essentially an updated version of PC-Plus designed specifically for mechanical engineering. It’s been in development for more than a year.

And like its predecessor, PC-Max was developed in collaboration with Covestro, formerly Bayer Material Science. Covestro supplied the high quality raw polycarbonate resins and worked closely with the Polymaker team to improve the filament formulation. “Covestro’s expertise, product portfolio and industry leadership will be invaluable to our mission to provide the industry with the best materials with the performance, reliability and safety that inspire our customers and expand our product portfolio,” said Dr. Xiaofan Luo, CEO of Polymaker.

What is special about PC-Max? In short, it has mechanical properties that you rarely see in 3D printing materials and is far stronger and more impact resistant than any other Polymaker material. “Polycarbonate has properties that make it very desirable to the entire 3D printing community, and PC-Max ™ makes it even better for creative designers and engineers at every stage of the production process,” added Dr. Luo added. PC-Max is also easier to 3D print than PC-Plus, which was 3D printed at 300 ° C – 320 ° C. In contrast, PC-Max can be 3D printed at a moderate 250 ° C – 270 ° C.

Most importantly, PC-Max is extremely strong and brings all of these mechanical properties to desktop 3D printing. According to Polymaker, all tests showed that parts made with PC-Max performed much better than other PC components in numerous deformation modes. While high heat filaments can be plagued by warping, Polymaker has also reduced the likelihood of this happening by minimizing the residual tension on the filament. In addition, the filament can easily be sanded, coated and subjected to other post-printing processes. PC-Max withstands temperatures well over 110 ° C, is flame-retardant and resistant to chemicals and solvents – perfect for technical environments. If you are interested, the filament will be available in the Polymaker website this month and costs $ 39.99 per roll.

Coincidentally, the busy Polymaker team has just added three new colors to its PolyPlus ™ and PolyMax ™ filament range: True Green, True Gray and True Purple. This brings the full numbers to 11 true colors and 4 translucent options for PolyPlus and 10 true colors for PolyMax. The deep green and purple options should provide a perfect aesthetic effect, while the real gray option should be very appealing to the busy technical user.

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What is the Strongest 3D Printer Filament? MatterHackers Makes an attempt to Discover Out – 3DPrint.com

There is an overwhelming amount of material to choose from with 3D printing – even with desktop FDM printers. For the casual maker, printability and appearance are often all that matters, especially if you are printing mostly decorative items. But when you’re trying to create a functional object, how do you know which material will best suit your needs? This is not an insignificant question, especially when the item you are printing is going to be responsible for its structural functions. How do you know if your filament is strong enough?

MatterHackers is often asked this question. The retailer has one of the largest filament selections in the 3D printing industry, so their team knows a lot about filament and filament thickness. After repeatedly asking MatterHackers what type of filament is the strongest, they decided to run some tests to find out the answer.

unnamed-26“Strength, however, is a bit vague as it can refer to a number of different mechanical properties – tensile strength, yield strength, fatigue strength, compressive strength, and impact resistance – so it is difficult to answer this question without further information.” Taylor Landry of the MatterHackers team warns. “… We are not a test laboratory and cannot perform scientific tests on these mechanical properties, and we certainly have not found a Young’s modulus. What we can do is do a comparison test – put 3D printed parts through the same test and see how filaments compare to each other. “

To test different materials, MatterHackers decided to 3D print an object that was as strong as possible: a carabiner. They scaled their model to be about the size of a typical aluminum carabiner you can find at a hardware store that is rated for 150 pounds. They printed each test model on a Rostock Max with a 0.4 mm nozzle at 0.25 mm layer height and 50% triangular pattern fill with five perimeters and five solid top and bottom layers.

The team then mounted a force gauge on a block and tackle pulley system at an 8: 1 ratio, which means that for every pound that was applied to one side of the system, eight pounds were applied to the other side. They tested each carabiner by attaching it to the pulley system and applying tension with a ratchet cable until the carabiner failed. The dynamometer recorded the peak strength for each.

The results are as follows:

unnamed-9

“Somewhat surprisingly, Taulman 645 failed at the lowest weight of any filament we tested, but it was the only filament that didn’t break,” explains MatterHackers. “Because it is not very stiff, it just bent and deformed until it came off the test bench. This toughness is obviously a very useful trait, but it’s not an ideal material for something like this carabiner. “

Unsurprisingly, PLA did badly and PETG didn’t do much better. NylonX was a welcome surprise though, showing up to be 100% stronger than PLA and 60% stronger than ABS on average. Polycarbonate also performed well, but was also the most difficult material to print as it required thorough drying before printing and was prone to warping.

Snap hookThe team also tried printing some carbines on a Markforged 3D printer. Markforged is known for its fiber-reinforced nylon 3D printing materials. MatterHackers printed two carabiners with glass fiber reinforced material and two with carbon fiber reinforcement. Surprisingly, all four parts fared worse than the NylonX and Polycarbonate parts for reasons that MatterHackers said are not entirely clear – they plan to investigate the matter further in the near future, as they have received incredibly strong parts in the Mark-Forged Materials Past.

Of course, the tests weren’t just simple measurements of tensile strength, the team found. Stiffness was also a factor.

“While we tensioned the 3D printed carabiners, we didn’t just measure the tensile strength. We found that the latch’s integrity and the ability to stay closed for as long as possible was a big factor in the maximum pre-failure load. The more flexible the filament, the easier it is for the latch to come loose and this leads to failure more quickly. “

While Taulman 645 performed poorly, that doesn’t mean it isn’t a strong filament – in fact, it essentially returned to its original shape after the weight was removed instead of breaking. Perhaps most of all, MatterHackers’ testing has proven that strength is a complicated thing and that what works best for one application may be completely wrong for another. A 3D printed carabiner is also a cool way to carry your keys around. However, if you do go mountain climbing, it is best to buy an aluminum carabiner from the sports store. Discuss in the MatterHackers forum on 3DPB.com.

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3ders.org – Polymaker unveils PC-Max, their strongest 3D printing filament for load-bearing components

May 16, 2016 | From Alec

It must be a very busy time at Polymaker headquarters in Shanghai. Your crowdfunding campaign for the Polysher / Polysmooth layer removal kit is still ongoing (having raised more than $ 300,000), but they were also working on another major version of filament for 3D printers at the same time. Referred to as PC-Max, it’s the toughest, strongest 3D printable filament ever – perfect for practical 3D printing projects, technical research, and structural components. They have added three new color options to their PolyPlus and PolyMax filaments.

Polymaker of course already has a wide range of excellent high-strength and impact-resistant filaments. So far was their strongest option PC plus, a popular polycarbonate filament with excellent material properties. PC-Max is essentially an updated version of PC-Plus designed specifically for mechanical engineering. It’s been in development for more than a year.

And like its predecessor, PC-Max was developed in collaboration with Covestro, formerly Bayer Material Science. Covestro supplied the high quality raw polycarbonate resins and worked closely with the Polymaker team to improve the filament formulation. “Covestro’s expertise, product portfolio and industry leadership will be invaluable to our mission to provide the industry with the best materials with the performance, reliability and safety that inspire our customers and expand our product portfolio,” said Dr. Xiaofan Luo, CEO of Polymaker.

What is special about PC-Max? In short, it has mechanical properties that you rarely see in 3D printing materials and is far stronger and more impact resistant than any other Polymaker material. “Polycarbonate has properties that make it very desirable to the entire 3D printing community, and PC-Max ™ makes it even better for creative designers and engineers at every stage of the production process,” added Dr. Luo added. PC-Max is also easier to 3D print than PC-Plus, which was 3D printed at 300 ° C – 320 ° C. In contrast, PC-Max can be 3D printed at a moderate 250 ° C – 270 ° C.

Most importantly, PC-Max is extremely strong and brings all of these mechanical properties to desktop 3D printing. According to Polymaker, all tests showed that parts made with PC-Max performed much better than other PC components in numerous deformation modes. While high heat filaments can be plagued by warping, Polymaker has also reduced the likelihood of this happening by minimizing the residual tension on the filament. In addition, the filament can easily be sanded, coated and subjected to other post-printing processes. PC-Max can withstand temperatures well over 110 ° C, is flame-retardant and resistant to chemicals and solvents – perfect for technical environments. If you are interested, the filament will be available in the Polymaker website this month and costs $ 39.99 per roll.

Coincidentally, the busy Polymaker team has just added three new colors to its PolyPlus ™ and PolyMax ™ filament ranges: True Green, True Gray and True Purple. This brings the full numbers to 11 true colors and 4 translucent options for PolyPlus and 10 true colors for PolyMax. The deep green and purple options should provide a perfect aesthetic effect, while the real gray option should be very appealing to the busy technical user.

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