Each 3D printing material has different characteristics, you should first consider the material characteristics of your desired product, and then pick out the right material for targeted printing.
Photosensitive resin
This material has the highest printing accuracy. The surface is also very smooth and suitable for printing exterior parts.
It can be divided into two types: ordinary resin and tough resin.
Ordinary resins are available in white, black, fully transparent and translucent resins.
White resin is slightly weaker, easy to break, and will turn yellow over time, so it is best to do the coloring process if it is an appearance piece.
Black resin material, an extremely tough and high temperature resistant three-dimensional light-curing 3D printing material, with strong performance, high quality, excellent price, widely used in automotive, electronic and electrical appliances, aerospace and other industries.
Fully transparent and translucent resin with smooth surface and strong detail performance, excellent water resistance and high temperature resistance, mainly used in automobile headlights, tail light models, electronic screen outer screen models, etc.
Resilient resin is usually bright green or light yellow. Compared to ordinary resin, tough resin is slightly stronger and less likely to break.
PLA
PLA polylactic acid, is a new biodegradable material, the full text is: polylactic acid.
This material is a little cheaper to print and can be used if you are doing a temporary structural display and do not have high requirements for appearance.
Material strength is high, the printing process can also be very convenient to optimize the filling rate inside the structure, so it is very easy to achieve light weight.
The precision is a little weak, and if the parts have a matching relationship, it is important to leave enough clearance to ensure assembly. Usually a minimum of 0.5 mm clearance is left for shaft hole matching.
Design should minimize the structure overhang, because the overhang structure part need to print support, will be more rough. Material deformation temperature of 60 degrees, can not be used for high temperature environment.
TPU
TPU name is thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer Rubber, is a soft rubber material, rich in color, can be printed car wheels, shock absorbing gaskets, seals and other parts. The hardness is between 80A and 95A.
The surface of the printed product is bright and shiny, but the complex structure of the printed parts is more serious after the drawing, the surface is hairy and difficult to deal with clean.
If the surface requirements are very high can also be done in the way of re-mold, is to print out the resin prototype, and then wrapped in silicone, to make the mold, and finally re-molded with a casting-like approach to make TPU parts, the process is more complex, high production costs, good results, to do the strap and other complex parts.
ABS
ABS plastic is a common engineering plastic with characteristics of heat resistance, impact resistance, low temperature resistance, chemical resistance and good electrical properties, and dimensional stability of products.
The heat deflection temperature is 93~118℃, and it can still present certain toughness at -40℃, and can be applied in the temperature range of -40~100℃. Suitable for structural parts.
PA
Nylon is the strongest material in the non-metallic printing material is nylon.
The best process for printing nylon is SLS laser powder sintering, which is highly accurate and gives the best strength and toughness of the workpiece.
In addition, the nylon material itself is resistant to high temperatures and wear, making it suitable for structural frameworks. The surface of the parts obtained by laser sintering has its own frosted texture, so it is possible to do without surface treatment.
Metal
3D printing metal materials can be divided into stainless steel A316L, ti6A14V titanium alloy, ALSI10mg aluminum alloy, copper metal and so on.
Stainless steel A316L is an austenitic stainless steel, due to the addition of Mo elements, so that its corrosion resistance, and high temperature strength has been greatly improved, high temperature resistance can reach 1200-1300 degrees, can be used in harsh conditions.
3D printing metal materials can be divided into stainless steel A316L, ti6A14V titanium alloy, ALSI10mg aluminum alloy, copper metal and so on.
Stainless steel A316L is an austenitic stainless steel, due to the addition of Mo elements, so that its corrosion resistance, and high temperature strength has been greatly improved, high temperature resistance can reach 1200-1300 degrees, can be used in harsh conditions.
