Hello, i am compleatly new to 3d printing. I would like to know what resin or filament material has the highest thermal conductivity. I am planning to 3d print a very detailed and complex heatsink so a CNC machine would not work. Thanks!!
What’s the max temp of the part being cooled? It will help with finding you a solution.
I’m not aware of dedicated filament for thermal conductivity. You can try the metal infused filaments, probably the copper filament.
You may consider Virtual Foundry filament to have a 100% metal part or Polymaker Polycast. Those filaments needs post processing.
Please share your experience.
Cheers
PS : if you want to find a lot of different filaments, go to www.filaments.directory
You can buy (electrically) conductive ABS filament but Copper filament doesn’t conduct heat. It is basically PLA filament with copper in it so it handles just like PLA
Is there any update on this. thread?
I have a similar need as well. I need to design a custom heatsink for a thermoelectric element (peltier cooler).
I already have the virtual foundry filaments and many other metal+pla filaments.
I did not try to print a heatsink using virtual foundry FDM filament and use it as is, w/o sintering.
But by touching it , it does not seem to have enough thermal conductivity. It might still be usable because
of better surface area.
I might go for, aluminum laser sintered prints. It might be the only option.
My startup company, TCPoly (TCPoly.com 296), has developed a new high thermal conductivity (>2 W/mK) filament. We are currently prototyping with industry partners, but are willing to ship small batch orders. Please reach out to info@tcpoly.com if interested.
