Hi, We are a Prototype house and using Form 2 for various Engineering Prototype. There has been a good response and customers have been demanding different materials like PP like and Nylon. Has one used other materials if yes, please share the details
PP = PolyPropylene?
Unlike FDM 3D printers where you can print pretty much anything so long as you can get it hot enough to extrude it, SLA printers require liquid resins with specific properties in order to print. As far as I know, there are no true “plastics” available in liquid resin form that you can use for your Form2. They need to be a “photopolymer” to work.
There are many resin types designed for strength, though. FL’s “Tough” is pretty much on-par with ABS and I’ve had great luck with that resin. I’ve also used Vorex from MadeSolid with excellent results.
Yes Randy, you are right.
I am interested in getting nylon-like mechanical properties from SLA printers due to their better resolution and isotropic nature when compared to FDM parts. From the Formlabs materials, Tough resin seems to be the closest to nylon, at least on paper.
However, the parts that I print using the tough resin are not performing as per my expectation. They tend to undergo brittle failure and resin flakes are formed instead of conventional cracks. I am post curing them as per the instructions on the datasheet.
Can anyone help me understand this failure? Is it to be expected from any SLA printed part? (even the Tough resin with advertised 31% elongation at break). In that case, I think a FDM printer might be a useful alternative.
The term you’re probably searching for is “thermoplastic resin,” the specific type of plastic resin used in FDM. In layman’s terms you’re basically correct: SLA always requires thermosetting resin, it does not work with thermoplastic resins. (See Wikipedia: Plastic classification if you’re interested in the distinction.)
Materials specialists like Huntsman and DSM do make SLA resins that simulate polypropylene or Nylon. (eg: Renshape SL, Somos 9120, etc.) But these are serious B2B suppliers for users of industrial stereolithography equipment. Even so, if you’re looking for reference information on SLA resins start with this Materials appendix from last year’s Wholers Report.
Sorry I can’t make any specific suggestions because I only use FormLabs resins with my Form 2. When I need thermoplastics I use a different machine, or I send my work out to a service bureau.
It sounds like you might be over-curing the parts. Here’s a part I printed in Tough. The part is supposed to be flat, but as you can see I can bend it 180º in both directions without it breaking or cracking. And it’s not yielding (much, anyway). After being bent, if I let it sit, it will return (mostly) to it’s original printed shape…
Hi,
Thanks for the reply. 3D Systems has a great choice of material : ABS-Like White (Standard& High Res), ABS-Like Gray,ABS-Like Black, Rigid PC-Like (Standard & High Res), Durable PP-Like (Standard & High Res),
Semi-Flexible PE-Like, High-Impact ABS-Like, High-Temp ABS-Like, High-Temp PC-Like, Rigid. But the issue is the availability of these material. Also the renowned Prototype house make them more valuable and hard to reach to common customers. We are waiting for Formlabs to release such material, as this will be help the small prototyping houses or individual customers to make a similar products like big prototype house…in the meanwhile we are also trying to check the strength of regular Form resins.
The other option is to make silicone mould and use PU resins. We will try to make and check
Again Thanks to all guru for their replies and views.
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