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How strong is 3d printed material


Are 3D Printed Parts Strong & Durable? PLA, ABS & PETG – 3D Printerly

Companies worldwide have recently turned to 3D printing to create technical parts quickly while saving some money in the process. But, developing 3D versions of pieces involves using new materials that might not be as durable. So, are 3D printed parts strong?

3D printed parts are very strong, especially when using specialized filament like PEEK or Polycarbonate, which is used for bullet-proof glass and riot shields. Infill density, wall thickness and print orientation can be adjusted to increase strength.

There’s a lot that goes into the strength of a 3D part. So, we’re going to be reviewing the materials used during 3D printing, how strong they really are, and what you can do to increase the strength of your 3D printed parts.

Are 3D Printed Parts Weaker & Fragile?

No, 3D printed parts aren’t weaker and fragile unless you 3D print them with settings that don’t give strength. Creating a 3D print with a low level of infill, with a weaker material, with a thin wall thickness and low printing temperature is likely to lead to a 3D print that’s weak and fragile.

How Do You Make 3D Printed Parts Stronger?

Most 3D printing materials are rather durable on their own, but there are some things that can be done to increase their overall strength. This mostly comes down to the minor details in the design process.

Most important would have to be manipulating the infill, wall thickness, and the number of walls. So, let’s take a look at how each of these factors can impact the strength of a 3D printed structure.

Increase Infill Density

Infill is what’s used to fill in the walls of a 3D printed part. This is essentially the pattern within the wall that adds to the density of the piece overall. Without any infill, the walls of a 3D part would be completely hollow and rather weak to outside forces.

Infill is a great way to increase the weight of a 3D part, also improving the strength of the part at the same time.

There are plenty of different infill patterns that can be used to improve the strength of a 3D printed piece, including a grid infill or a honeycomb infill. But, just how much infill there is will determine the strength.

For regular 3D parts, up to 25% is likely more than enough. For pieces designed to support weight and impact, closer to 100% is always better.

Increase Number of Walls

Think of the walls of a 3D printed part as the support beams in a house. If a house only has four exterior walls and no support beams or interior walls, just about anything can cause the house to collapse or give under any amount of weight.

In the same way, the strength of a 3D printed piece will only exist where there are walls to support weight and impact. That’s exactly why increasing the number of walls inside a 3D printed piece can increase the strength of the structure.

This is an especially useful strategy when it comes to larger 3D printed parts with a greater surface area.

Increase Wall Thickness

The actual thickness of the walls used in a 3D printed piece will determine how much impact and weight a part can withstand. For the most part, thicker walls will mean a more durable and sturdy piece overall.

But, there does seem to be a point at which it’s difficult to print 3D printed parts when the walls are too thick.

The best part about adjusting the wall thickness is that the thickness can vary based on the area of the part. That means the outside world probably won’t know that you’ve thickened the walls unless they cut your piece in half to dissect it.

Generally speaking, extremely thin walls will be quite flimsy and won’t be able to support any exterior weight without collapsing.

Generally, walls that are at least 1.2mm thick are durable and strong for most materials, but I’d recommend going up to 2mm+ for a higher level of strength.

The Strength of Materials Used to Create 3D Parts

3D printed parts can only be as strong as the material that they’re made of. With that said, some materials are a lot stronger and more durable than others. That’s exactly why the strength of 3D printed parts varies so greatly.

Three of the more common materials used to create 3D parts include PLA, ABS, and PETG. So, let’s discuss what each of these materials is, how they can be used, and how strong they really are.

PLA (Polylactic Acid)

PLA, also known as Polylactic Acid, is perhaps the most popular material used in 3D printing. Not only is it quite cost-effective, but it’s also very easy to use to print parts.

That’s why it’s often used to print plastic containers, medical implants, and packaging materials. In most circumstances, PLA is the strongest material used in 3D printing.

Even though PLA has an impressive tensile strength of about 7,250 psi, the material does tend to be a little brittle in special circumstances. That means it’s a little more likely to break or shatter when placed under a powerful impact.

It’s also important to note that PLA has a relatively low melting point. When exposed to high temperatures, the durability and strength of PLA will severely weaken.

ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene)

ABS, also known as Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene, isn’t quite as strong as PLA, but that doesn’t at all mean that it’s a weak 3D printing material. In fact, this material is much more capable of withstanding heavy impact, often flexing and bending rather than shattering completely.

That’s all thanks to the tensile strength of about 4,700 PSI. Given the lightweight construction yet impressive durability, ABS is one of the best 3D printing materials out there.

That’s why ABS is used to make just about any type of product in the world. It’s quite a popular material when it comes to printing children’s toys like Legos, computer parts, and even piping segments.

The incredibly high melting point of ABS also makes it able to withstand just about any amount of heat.

PETG (Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol-Modified)

PETG, also known as Polyethylene Terephthalate, is usually used to develop more complex designs and objects when it comes to 3D printing. That’s because PETG tends to be much denser, more durable, and more rigid than some of the other 3D printing materials.

For that exact reason, PETG is used to make plenty of products like food containers and signage.

Why Use 3D Printing at All?

If 3D printed parts weren’t at all strong, then they wouldn’t be used as an alternative production method for many supplies and materials.

But, are they as strong as metals like steel and aluminum? Definitely not!

However, they are quite useful when it comes to designing new pieces, printing them at a lower cost, and getting a good amount of durable use out of them. They’re also great for small parts and have a generally decent tensile strength given their size and thickness.

What’s even better is that these 3D printed parts can be manipulated to increase their strength and overall durability.

Conclusion

3D printed parts are definitely strong enough to be used to make common plastic items that can withstand great amounts of impact and even heat. For the most part, ABS tends to be much more durable, though it does have a much lower tensile strength than PLA.

But, you also need to take into consideration what’s being done to make these printed parts even stronger. When you bump up the infill density, increase the number of walls, and improve the wall thickness, you’re adding to the strength and durability of a 3D printed piece.

How Strong Are 3D Printed Parts? Central Scanning

How strong 3D printed parts are depends on several key aspects, including:

  • The material you use for printing, and
  • How you design and print your 3D parts.

Why 3D Printing Materials Matter

Your 3D print will only ever be as good as the material you use.

This means selecting a quality material from a reliable supplier. But, also ensuring that the material you select will be right for the intended purpose of your finished part.

There is a broad range of 3D printing materials available. In addition, the options will depend on the properties you want the material to have.

For example, you might want your part to be:

  • Impact resistant
  • Chemically resistant
  • Flexible
  • Rigid
  • Heat resistant
  • Water resistant.

PLA OR POLYLACTIC ACID

One of the most popular materials users select for desktop 3D printing is PLA, or Polylactic Acid.

Why do so many people choose PLA as their 3D printing filament?

It provides ease of use at a low cost and, importantly, it is reasonably strong. Additionally, you can print with PLA at a low temperature, without a heated bed, but it has a tensile strength of 7,250 psi. However, PLA is also biodegradable, so while it is environmentally friendly, it is unlikely to be suitable for bearing heavy loads, as it can become brittle.

ABS – ACRYLONITRILE, BUTADIENE AND STYRENE

A more advanced engineering material for 3D printing is ABS. ABS is the combine polymers Acrylonitrile, Butadiene and Styrene. It is widely used in everyday household items and in cars. It is an engineering-grade material and more stable than PLA. There is a catch here though. When it comes to actual tensile strength, ABS is weaker than PLA.

There are other alternative 3D printing materials out there. For example, there is a type of nylon suitable for 3D printing that is stronger and more durable than either PLA or ABS.

NYLON

Nylon filament is flexible when thin but with excellent adhesion between layers. It has a high melting temperature and a low friction coefficient. Nylon is suitable for various functional applications and parts such as hinges.

POLYCARBONATE

Another strong 3D printing material is polycarbonate. It offers a high level of toughness and a very good thermal and dimensional stability. In addition, it is ideal for high-strength, functional components. For instance, it is commonly used in manufacturing bullet-proof glass.

Matching Material with Design and Production

To ensure you have sufficiently strong 3D printed parts you need to make sure they are well designed and that you use appropriate print settings.

  1. First, select a suitable infill pattern. This is the printed material inside the walls of your print. Selecting a naturally strong infill design pattern, such as honeycomb or rectilinear, will add strength to the finished 3D part, regardless of the material you choose.
  2. Next, you should ensure your print settings are of a sufficient quality, as this can influence the final result.
  3. Finally, choose the right orientation for your 3D print. You will find that 3D parts tend to be weakest along the z axis. Therefore, you must make sure that the areas of the part receiving the most stress will not be along this axis.

The strength of 3D printed parts is relative to their function and the material you choose should reflect this.

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SLA 3D printing: how durable is the resin?

SLA 3D printing is said to produce complex and precise parts with good surface quality. In addition, due to the wide variety of resins, the range of SLA applications is constantly expanding. However, when tough and functional parts are required, SLA printing is usually not the choice. Why?

See how durable your resin print can be (Photo: SolidSmack)

Well, it is true that most standard resins are relatively brittle compared to other 3D printing materials and are not recommended for stressed parts or outdoor use, but there are tough and durable resins on the market that are specifically designed for more durable applications. .

In this article, we'll take a look at these tough 3D printing resins and show you just how strong they can actually be.

There are many SLA resins on the market, each suitable for a specific application (Source: Pinterest)

Most 3D printing resins are based on epoxy or acrylate, the latter being more commonly used in desktop printers. Therefore, SLA-printed parts are considered to be fragile and are most suitable for decorative applications and prototypes rather than functional and load-bearing components. But this is true only if the resin is chosen incorrectly.

Examples of heavy duty resin can be found in a wide variety of industries. There are casting resins for jewelry making and 3D printing in the field of dentistry for making mouthguards, crowns and surgical guides. There are also high temperature resins that are suitable for a variety of industrial applications, and even resins that can produce rubber-like parts.

Let's take a look at the strongest resins available and find out how durable they are compared to other FDM 3D printing materials.

Cycle test in progress (Source: Afinko)

Let's start with a brief look at the mechanical property, which is closely related to the tensile strength of the material. Tensile strength is defined as the maximum stress a particular material can withstand when stretched before failure.

The higher the tensile strength, the stronger the material is considered.

Now about resins. Let's first compare standard 3D printing resins with resins sold as rigid, and then compare these stiffer resins with common FDM materials such as ABS, PLA, and PETG.

Standard and hard resins

Hard resins show double strength compared to standard resins (Source: Lucas Carolo via All3DP)

with a standard resin, chosen as a standard, was a color UF-mol of ANYCUBIC because the Photon SLA printer is one of the most popular on the market.

It is clear from the graph above how much stronger the hard resins are compared to the standard. In fact, the three resins selected for this comparison—Formlabs Tough 2000, eSun Hard-Tough, and Siraya Tech "Blu"—show nearly double the tensile strength of Anycubic resin. (The Formlabs rigid resin line, including 2000, can only be used with the latest Formlabs printers.)

Just because a resin is strong does not mean that prints made with these resins will be twice as strong as when printed with standard resin. Other factors such as model design and print parameters also play an important role in the final strength of the product. However, comparing tensile strength is an easy way to determine which material is stronger.

But how do these tough resins stand up to other plastics produced by FDM 3D printers?

Siraya Blu had more strength than some FDM materials (Source: CNC Kitchen via YouTube) , who developed a test method in which a 3D printed hook is stretched to failure, simulating a tensile test.

Stefan constantly tests different materials with this method and the results are shown in the graph above. In a video where he tests Siraya Blu resin, Stefan found that Siraya's rigid resin was stronger than some FDM materials such as ABS and ASA, although not as strong as PLA and PETG.

SLA print (left) has the same strength regardless of orientation, but FDM print does not (right) (Source: Formlabs)

Although material properties largely determine the strength of a given print, there are other important factors that can affect mechanical performance.

How a design is printed greatly affects its durability. For example, a certain component can be strengthened by distributing more material in places where stress will be concentrated. The freedom of design afforded by 3D printing means that there are often computational tools such as topology optimization that automate the process.

How a part is made also depends on how well it can withstand external influences. In the context of 3D printing, this is determined by the print settings determined during slicing. It is well known that the height of higher layers greatly affects the strength of FDM parts and this is also true for SLA prints. Most FDM slicers have multiple infill densities and patterns to reduce media and print time, however they are rare in SLA. However, the third-party ChiTuBox slicer includes these features, which provide the ability to increase toughness while optimizing material utilization.

Anisotropy is when a physical property of an object or material has a different value when measured in different directions. This happens in 3D printing when FDM printed objects display different material properties depending on the direction in which the part is assembled. More specifically, this happens when a lower adhesion is created between layers on the Z axis, which causes lower tensile strength compared to the X or Y axis. As you can see in the image above, when a weight is applied to an FDM print that is not oriented or not modeled for anisotropy, it may break. However, when it comes to SLA printing, the opposite is true because the resin is isotropic. During his testing with Siraya's Blu, Stefan confirmed this by experimentally showing that the parts are equally strong regardless of the assembly direction. Formlabs also came to the same conclusion, which is discussed in their article on the isotropic properties of SLA printing.

Orthesa on an ankle joint from a durable resin (source: Animake)

Given everything that we learned, it becomes clear that when choosing the correct resin, 3D-first-clock SLA can produce imprints of durable like FDM.

To illustrate this point, here is an inspiring example of how resin prints strong, functional, and complex parts in the world of orthopedics.

Matej Vlašić's son Nick from Slovenia was born with cerebral palsy and could not stand or walk without assistance. Mr. Vlašić created special orthopedic ankle orthoses for Nick using SLA printing. About a year later, the final product design allowed Nick to walk for several days.

Like many other orthotic devices, AFOs must be strong enough to provide support while supporting the entire body weight during movement. Mr. Vlašić used Formlabs resin, which proved to be durable and comfortable even over long periods of use. Thanks to this success, Mr. Vlašić founded Animake. He and his team provide diagnostic treatments and 3D printed orthotics to help other children in need of special AFOs.

Source

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SLA 3D-rendering, 3D-printed orthopedic devices, FDM resin, Chitabox slider, Anycubs resin, Formlabs TUUGH. the most durable material for 3D printing?

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