No one wants their 3D printed parts to break, and whatever structure you’re printing, you need strong materials. Strength can refer to hardness, impact resistance, load capacity without breaking, etc. You’ll also see various scientific strength measurements on 3D printing materials, such as terms like “tensile strength” and “flexural strength.” So how to judge? Today, […]
No one wants their 3D printed parts to break, and whatever structure you’re printing, you need strong materials.
Strength can refer to hardness, impact resistance, load capacity without breaking, etc. You’ll also see various scientific strength measurements on 3D printing materials, such as terms like “tensile strength” and “flexural strength.”
So how to judge? Today, Mohou.com will explore with you the strongest 3D printing materials and how to choose the right materials for your 3D printing projects.
A carbon fiber reinforced chain link 3D printed on a Markforged 3D printer ultimately failed under a force of over 22,000 pounds (Source: Markforged)
Understanding the strength of materials
The 12 tonne tank is lifted using 2kg 3D printed solid carbon fiber reinforced nylon connecting rods, designed and printed by UltiMaker using Convestro’s carbon fiber nylon called Addigy F1030 CF10 (Source: UltiMaker)
As with materials, all strength measurements vary depending on the material manufacturer, the specific composition of the material, and the print settings used. For example, not all maraging steels are stronger than all stainless steels, but the strongest maraging steels are stronger than the strongest stainless steels. Likewise, not all carbon fiber nylons resist flexing better than carbon fiber PEEK materials, but they often do.
Another point to consider is your environmental conditions. Standard carbon fiber nylon is as strong as carbon fiber PEEK, but may break in humid or corrosive environments. All resistance data is measured at standard temperature and pressure (STP), but most applications require resistance under temperature, UV or chemical conditions.
Tensile strength (tensile strength)
If you are 3D printing a part that is primarily pulled, such as a hook used for lifting heavy objects, you will need high tensile strength.Tensile strength refers to the amount of tension or stress a material can withstand before breaking.. Measuring the tensile strength of a material essentially involves placing a sample of the material in a vise-like machine and pulling in opposite directions. In reality, this measurement concerns the speed with which a part breaks or its fragility.
Tensile strength also has important related terms, such as ultimate tensile strength (UTS), which is the actual breaking point, and tensile yield strength, which is the strength of a material when It is permanently deformed, in most cases even if it has not yet broken. Lost its function.
The materials with the highest tensile strength are metals, but not polymers, notably carbon fiber. These materials are often used to replace metals in applications where polymers are lighter.
Designer Alejandro Estrada sits on his Truss chair, printed with Ingeo Biopolymer PLA (Source: Piegatto)
Bending strength (flexural strength)
If your part (like a 3D printed chair) needs to bend slightly to withstand force without breaking, you need a material with high bending strength.Flexural strength represents the maximum stress a material can withstand before it fails in bending.。
The higher the flexural strength, the more resistant the material is to bending or bending forces. So if you want to print something like the chair pictured above, you need to choose a material with bending strength proportional to the strength you expect from the chair, rather than the material with the highest bending strength. high. The chair pictured above is printed from polylactic acid, which has a flexural strength of 102 MPa.
This should not be confused with flexural modulus, which refers to the bending strength or stiffness of a material. Thin-walled components such as tubes or containers will benefit from a high flexural modulus to prevent bending from external forces.
Wilson’s 2023 airless basketball concept uses EOS’s selective laser sintering technology to 3D print on TPU material with a tensile modulus of 60 MPa (Source: EOS)
Tensile modulus (elasticity)
Elasticity (also known as Young’s modulus, tensile modulus) evaluates the elasticity of a material and is the ratio of the deformation of the material to the power required to deform it.
For example, a typical TPU filament has a low tensile modulus of around 70 MPa (highly elastic), while most PEEK filaments have a higher tensile modulus of 3,720 MPa (non-elastic). Elasticity is one of the measurements often used along with strength when selecting materials. If you want to determine how far a part can stretch without breaking, another important measurement is “elongation at break”, which is usually a percentage of the part that represents the change in length from the sample to the breakup. For example, a thermoplastic polyurethane can have an elongation at break of 400%.
The lamp is printed in polycarbonate by Polymaker using its PolyLite PC filament and has an impact resistance of 341 J/m2 (Source: Polymaker)
Impact resistance and hardness
Impact resistance (or more commonly known as toughness) refers to a component’s ability to resist breaking if dropped, or to resist breaking or cracking when force is applied.
Hardness seems to be a vague term, especially when talking about metals. It can refer to a component’s resistance to scratches, abrasion, or dent resistance. The hardness of plastics is usually indicated by a Rockwell or Shore hardness rating, which has little to do with the strength or flexibility of the material. Shore hardness is a common term for polymers, but it is broader than the measurements above. For example, all elastomers and flexible filaments (such as thermoplastic polyurethane) have a Shore A hardness, and in Category A they have their own numerical value, such as Shore 95A.
Which is stronger: metals, ceramics or polymers?
Choosing a metallic, ceramic or polymer material for your part requires considering its application (Source: PrintDreams, Lithoz, Intamsys)
It would be a mistake to think that all metals are stronger than all polymers. In fact, in many high temperature environments, 3D printing with high strength materials such as PEEK can replace the use of metal in the appropriate application. In aerospace applications, polymers are often used to replace metals because they are lighter and often more resistant to corrosion. When comparing polymers to metals, most polymer suppliers use a specific tensile strength, which is the strength of the material divided by its density.
Many technical ceramics are also stronger than metals in certain aspects, such as tensile modulus (or resistance to deformation under force). Engineering ceramics such as silicon nitride (Si3N4), aluminum oxide (Al2O3) and zirconium oxide (ZrO2) are very strong in terms of rigidity, but have some limitations in terms of brittleness.
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