FDM technology uses thermoplastic plastics (mainly polymer materials such as PLA, ABS, TPU, PETG, nylon, etc.) as consumables, heats the filamentary consumables to melt and extrude them, forms the material into a specific shape in a plane by controlling the movement of the nozzle, and then realizes additive manufacturing by stacking the planes layer by layer.
PLA (polylactic acid), the king of FDM printing consumables, is an environmentally friendly material with good biodegradability, capable of being produced from renewable biological resources (such as corn, cassava and other plants) and being completely degraded by natural microorganisms under certain conditions, eventually producing carbon dioxide and water.
Characteristics: PLA has a density of 1.25-1.28g/cm3 and a melting point of 155-185°C. The printhead temperature is usually set at 180-220°C during printing. Because of the low shrinkage of PLA, the possibility of warping is low, so it is possible to either not open the hot bed and play cold, or use a lower hot bed temperature; PLA consumables are easy to absorb moisture, so attention should be paid to dryness and avoiding light when storing.
Advantages and disadvantages: The advantages of PLA consumables are their good printing performance, environmental characteristics and favorable price; the disadvantages are that the consumables can be biodegraded and the printed items have a short life span and are easily aged.
ABS plastic is a kind of "tough, hard and rigid" material with easy access to raw materials, good overall performance, low price and wide application, which is widely used in mechanical, electrical, textile, automobile, aircraft, ship and other manufacturing and chemical industries. It is one of the most stable materials for 3d printing.
Characteristics: ABS is a terpolymer of A (acrylonitrile), B (butadiene) and C (styrene). It has the characteristics of heat resistance, impact resistance, low temperature resistance, chemical resistance, excellent electrical properties, and dimensional stability of products. The density is 1.05-1.18g/cm3, the melting point is about 170°C, and the nozzle temperature is set within 220-260°C.
Advantages and disadvantages: ABS in the printing process is easy to warp and so on, so the hot bed temperature needs to be set at about 100 ℃, sealed cavity and cavity temperature is maintained at 50-60 ℃; disadvantage is easy to print performance is lower than PLA, the printing process has a taste.
TPU (Thermoplastic polyurethanes), the king of FDM flexible consumables, is a thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer rubber. It is a class of polymer material between rubber and plastic.
Features: wide range of hardness, high mechanical strength, outstanding cold resistance, good processing performance, oil resistance, water resistance, mold resistance regeneration and good utilization. TPU density of 1.1-1.25 g/cm3, melting point of about 100-120 ℃, usually in the print nozzle temperature set at 190-210 ℃, you can not open the hot bed cold play, you can also use a lower hot bed temperature.
Advantages and disadvantages: our daily contact with cell phone cases, computer keyboard film, etc., most of the TPU material. TPU is a soft rubber flexible material, remote extruder printing effect is not good, so the need for proximity extruder.
PETG. PETG is an amorphous copolyester with the advantage of high strength and high heat deflection temperature. Usually the printhead temperature is set at 220-260°C when printing, and can be cold typed without opening the hot bed, or using a lower hot bed temperature.
Nylon. Nylon (Nylon) is a term for polyamide (Polyamide) fiber (nylon), abbreviated as PA. is a high-strength, high toughness, good interlayer adhesion, very durable 3D printing supplies, stronger than ABS, more durable than PLA. The disadvantage is that it requires the nozzle temperature to be kept at 260-280℃, which cannot be reached by ordinary 3D printers; meanwhile, nylon consumables are easy to absorb moisture and have high requirements for storage environment.
Water soluble supplies. Water-soluble consumables are a boon. Water-soluble consumables are generally PVA materials (polyvinyl alcohol), which can be dissolved by soaking in warm water.
Other materials: Based on PLA consumables, some special additives and auxiliaries are added to achieve special effects, such as adding color changing materials that are sensitive to temperature or light, adding fluorescent powder, adding some wood powder or metal powder.