What filament do they consider to have the highest tensile strength. I am looking for something that doesn’t bend but is quite stiff and has an exception tensile strength. Something that resembles aluminum, I suppose. I made a tool out of aluminum and I plan on seeing if I can make it with a 3d printer. I am thinking polycarbonate. If that is the best, what manufacturer would you recommend? There are so many choices out there.
Thanks
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I would take a look at nylon, Taulmann 610 is a good example of a strong engineering material that has similar properties to aluminum.
Hope this helps!
Martin
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Enza3D
3
Hi Michael,
Tensile strength is entirely dependent on print orientation. Depending on your specific part geometry, achieving high strength may or may not be possible. That being said, from and engineering perspective there are no standard FDM materials or filaments (Including exotics) that directly compare to aluminum’s material properties. Some filament manufacturers will claim their filaments are analogous to aluminum but they are usually referencing the softer, less useful aluminum grades, not the typical 6000 or 7000 series aluminum people are used to. The strongest filaments are usually a blend of fiber in a matrix of some base material (the strongest being nylon). Even the highest performing FDM filaments are only slightly stronger than their base material. If thats good enough for you then it might be workable with some print orientation tweaking.
.
FDM is weakest in tensile strength when the vertical print axis is in the same axis as the tensile force. If you are set on FDM technology a MarkForged print may be an option, these printers use a carbon fiber (or Fiber glass) thread co-extruded with nylon to provide a very high tensile strength print in the x-y direction. They are still FDM technology though so their Achilles heal is the z direction tensile strength.
If you are open to other printing technologies I would look towards SLS, the sintered nylon powders used in high-end machines is pretty damn strong, very similar to an injection molded part.
SLA is out entirely due to the next to zero mechanical properties.
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Did you consider a filament having a 110 MPA (15954 psi) of tensile strength?
The Ultra Pro Alpha filament is offered by Tiamet3d.
Anyone tried it?
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Thanks for the replies everyone,
When you say real polycarbonate I assume you mean that there are different blends out there. What manufacturer would you recommend for me to try it out?
Thanks,
Mike
Robin
7
the markforged can embed carbon fibre and kevlar wire into a nylon print, it is restricted to one layer so your strength will not be exceptional in layer to layer boundaries…
otherwise nylon itself is strong and easy to print with (if you have the right kind on nylon)…
as to the strongest. polycarbonate, maybe
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No doubt that is an impressive tensile strength, but that stuff sure is expensive. From what I can tell, it doesn’t seem like this filament is used that much.
Mike
