Materials

3D Printing can utilize a wide and growing variety of different types of material to produce parts to suit a wide array of uses and environments.

HexForm3D will take your project’s unique circumstances in to consideration when advising on materials to find the balance of price and performance.

Some of the most common materials we use include:

Polylactic Acid (PLA)

PLA is a plant-based polymer commonly made from corn or sugar cane. Under correct production environments PLA can be used for food packaging and medical applications (food safe and clinical products are not available from HF3D). PLA is biodegradable and industrially compostable. PLA is the most commonly used polymer in 3D printing with a wide variety of colors, shine effects, glitter, glow in the dark, and much more. The availability of recycled PLA is limited but where possible HexForm3D uses recycled PLA from Protopasta.

Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol (PETG)

PETG is a polymer you are very familiar with in another form: PET is the same plastic soda bottles are made from. The added glycol is mostly to benefit the printing process although it can improve flexibility and impact resistance. PETG is valued for its chemical resistance, durability and heat resistance. PETG is recyclable but often recycling centers do not handle it like PET. HexForm3D often uses recycled PETG from Printerior Designs or Protopasta.

ABS/ASA

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and Acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA) are two common 3D printing polymers with excellent chemical resistance, temperature resistance. ASA has superior UV resistance, flexibility and hardness which make it more suitable for outdoor applications however ABS is a commodity plastic and usually very cost-effective. Both polymers are recyclable however HexForm3D has yet to identify a reliable supplier of recycled ABS or ASA filament.

TPU

Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) is an elastic material with properties similar to rubber with incredibly high elasticity, impact resistance and flexibility at room temperature. TPU is an incredibly variable product and can be blended to achieve a range of degrees of hardness. TPU is theoretically a recyclable material however local recycling centers will not be able to process this material, even specialized 3D printing filament recycling facilities avoid working with TPU. If you are wondering about the feel of TPU if you ever used a soft phone cover or case it was probably made from TPU.

PCTG

Polycyclohexylenedimethylene terephthalate (PCTG) [say that three times fast!] is a similar polymer to PETG with some advantages that elevates the material’s use to the engineering space of 3D printing. PCTG has slightly superior chemical resistance, impact resistance, heat resistance, dimensional stability and layer adhesion while otherwise enjoying all of PETG’s advantages and printability as well.

Nylon

Polyamide, or Nylon, is a popular material across industries. Relied on primarily for its toughness, flexibility, chemical resistance and impact resistance. Nylon is a recyclable thermoplastic, however it is usually designated the ‘Other’ plastics category for the most difficult to process plastics. For strong functional parts Nylon is one of the best materials out there. But when combined with the right additive Nylon can become an incredibly strong, resilient material, such as glass fiber reinforced Nylon 6 used in aerospace applications.

PC

Polycarbonate is a premium polymer with some of the best mechanical properties and high-heat resistance available to 3D printing. As a prototyping and functional component material PC’s amorphous structure supports very low, almost isotropic shrinkage for optimal dimensional accuracy. If you need a part that fits exactly right and can perform under stress in hostile conditions then PC will perform.