It's no exaggeration to say that most of you reading this article have often wondered, "What is the strongest 3D printing material?" This is certainly an intriguing question. The one everyone wants to know the answer to. Whether you're a hobbyist or an expert, most of your projects require strong and durable materials. In this article, we aim to compare the most durable 3D printing materials and give you the answer.
But it also raises the question of what does the strength of materials for 3D printing mean?
What does "strong" mean when it comes to 3D printing?
Well, the strength of 3D printing materials can be determined in several ways. Some of them include hardness, impact resistance, compressive strength and so on. However, the two most commonly understood types of strength that most people care about are tensile strength and flexural strength. This is how much the material can be stretched and bent accordingly. In the following overview, we will list the pressure in megapascals (MPa) that each material can withstand. The higher these numbers, the "stronger" the material is when subjected to those particular loads. The numbers we use are based on. Materials from other brands may vary.
Best FFF/FDM materials for durable parts printing
To compare the strongest 3D printing materials, we'll look at seven different materials. Namely, polylactic acid (PLA), Tough PLA, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polycarbonate (PC), glycol modified polyethylene terephthalate (PET-G), nylon and polypropylene (PP). Which one is best for you depends on your needs, budget, and a number of other factors. Later in this article, we will discuss specific applications and what material might be best for them.
PLA filament
PLA, or polylactic acid, is a very versatile and popular FDM 3D printing material. Its popularity stems from the fact that it is easy to print, readily available at a low cost, and available in a variety of colors. For this reason, it is probably the first material that most people will print with.
PLA is not usually chosen for its strength properties due to the brittleness of the material. If you're printing on a budget, PLA may be fine in some cases, but if your part needs to bend before it breaks, you're usually better off using a different material.
PLA filament properties
Tensile strength: 53-59 MPa
Bending strength: 97-101 MPa
Durable PLA filament
Tough PLA is a tougher version of regular PLA or polylactic acid. It combines the ease of printing you would expect from PLA and eliminates PLA's main disadvantage: its brittleness. For this reason, it is ideal for functional prototypes that require flexibility.
Durable PLA is not as brittle as regular PLA, exhibits higher tear strength than ABS, is easier to print than ABS, and is compatible with PVA water-soluble support material.
Durable properties of PLA filament
Tensile strength: 45-48 MPa
Bending strength: 83-96 MPa
ABS thread
ABS, also known as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, is a popular thermoplastic polymer. It is well known for its impact, chemical, water and heat resistance. It also has outstanding high and low temperature performance, making it ideal for automotive components. ABS plastic also has good electrical insulating properties, making it a good choice for enclosures and housings for electrical parts.
In addition, ABS is comparatively cheaper than most materials and relatively easy to process. As a result, it is an excellent material for mass production and is used in a wide range of conventional products. The fact that ABS is easy to post-process also means that it can be glued and painted.
ABS filament properties
Tensile strength: 34-36 MPa
Bending strength: 60-61 MPa
Polycarbonate (PC) thread
Polycarbonate filament (PC) is a tough thermoplastic polymer that is resistant to heat and chemicals. It is a high strength material designed for use in harsh environments and technical applications. It has good heat dissipation due to its high glass transition temperature and is usually available in an improved impact resistance version.
Polycarbonate filament has many uses in everyday life. Polycarbonate, unlike plexiglass, does not break. It bends and deforms like hard rubber until it finally breaks. It also has excellent optical clarity.
Polycarbonate can be difficult to work with due to its high heat resistance, meaning warping can be a problem. Choosing the right adhesive and avoiding sharp corners on parts will help you successfully print with this material.
Polycarbonate filament properties
Tensile strength: 43-65 MPa
Bending strength: 89-114 MPa
PETG thread
PETG, or polyethylene terephthalate glycol, is a thermoplastic polyester chemically modified with glycol to limit crystallization and improve toughness. The inclusion of glycol improves PET, durability and moldability for production. It has high impact and abrasion resistance and can withstand higher temperatures compared to PLA.
Due to its excellent properties and relatively low price, PETG is widely used in 3D printing. It is a good engineering material that can be used instead of ABS. It also has less tendency to warp, which means it's easier to print precise details on it.
PETG thread properties
Tensile strength: 38-44 MPa
Bending strength: 75-79 MPa
Nylon thread
3D printing nylon is commonly found in several forms: PA6 and PA6/66, which are stiffer versions of nylon, and PA 12, which is a flexible type of nylon. Nylon has useful qualities that make it an attractive material for 3D printing. Nylon is strong and durable, as well as flexible. This characteristic is useful when printing parts with thin walls. In addition, nylon has a high melting point with a very low coefficient of friction, making it suitable for printing functional interconnected items such as gears.
One of the main disadvantages of nylon as a material for 3D printing is its high hygroscopicity, that is, the ability to absorb moisture. This can make it difficult to achieve the expected printing performance.
Properties of nylon thread
Tensile strength: 63-65 MPa
Bending strength: 63-83 MPa
Polypropylene (PP) thread
Polypropylene (PP) is a widely used plastic that can be found in almost every home. It is the material of choice for storage and packaging, and for many traditional forms of production such as injection molding. The popularity of polypropylene is due to its high chemical resistance, heat resistance, impact resistance and flexibility.
Its qualities make it ideal for applications such as food packaging, outdoor display, chemical storage tanks, and even medical applications such as prostheses, among others.
Properties of polypropylene yarn
Tensile strength: 10-12 MPa
Bending strength: 13-15 MPa
Best Settings for Printing Durable Parts
Wouldn't it be great to be able to print stronger parts without even changing the material used? Fortunately, this is possible. The main thing is to optimize the settings. To get the most out of your printer and media, you must adjust the settings you use, not just for each media, but for each part.
Below are some of the best settings you can change to enhance your detail:
Fill type and density . The type and density of the infill are important factors influencing the strength of the printed part. The greater the filling density, the higher the strength. However, high infill density is generally not recommended as it uses a lot of media and takes longer to print. To increase the strength of a part without increasing density, you can also change the infill pattern depending on the functionality of the part. For example, in compressive strength tests, triangular/lattice infill shows higher compressive strength compared to cubic and gyro infill patterns.
For most visual prints, you can use about 20 percent infill, but for more durable details, try increasing it to 50 percent. An alternative is to use modifier meshes to selectively create a higher infill density in areas where stresses will be highest.
Part orientation. Part orientation may not be on your checklist for crisper prints, but it is critical. Tensile strength is lower along the Z axis in 3D printing (typically 40-70% strength compared to the XY axis), especially in tall and thin printed parts. As a result, you must carefully orient the part to match the required axis of strength. In doing so, you will also have to consider the support structure and a balance will need to be found based on what matters most in that particular part.
Shell thickness: The thickness of the outer surface of the part is called the shell thickness. Generally speaking, the thicker the shell, the stronger the part. Based on this, you can decide what shell thickness you need for your part. A sheath thickness of twice the layer thickness is usually a good starting point.
Post-processing for stronger parts
The work is not finished when the piece is printed. You can increase the strength of the printed part with a little work.
Annealing: Semi-crystalline materials such as nylon, PET, PEEK and some forms of PLA can be annealed. This is a heat treatment in which the material is completely converted to a crystalline state, resulting in a more rigid and durable part.