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Filaments

From dankwiki

Keeping notes on various FDM printing filaments here. Prices are per kilogram spool unless stated otherwise. Printing was done on a Bambu Carbon X1C unless stated otherwise.

Polylactic acid (PLA)

  • Bambu silky green 2024-06 $25: beautiful results

Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)

  • Overture 95A green 2024-06 $30: stringy as hell

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)

  • Bambu black/green 2024-06 $14 (4kg @ $56): solid workhorse

High impact polystyrene (HIPS)

Support material for ABS/PET, dissolvable

  • Bambu green Support-G $80 ($40/.5kg): expensive!

Acrylic styrene acrylonitrile (ASA)

  • Atomic Filaments black 2024-06 $19 (7kg @ $130): lay the first layer at 105, and remaining layers at 115.

Polycarbonate (PC)

  • Bambu clear black 2024-06 $40: befouled my .4mm hotend. Very lovely when it prints.
    • warping at 115, stick to builtin 110

Polyamide Nylon (PA)

Polycaprolactam (Nylon 6, PA6)

  • Atomic Filaments black

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)

Polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG)

  • Atomic Filaments black Carbon Fiber: result is very tough
    • most reliable method seems to be cold plate (not textured PEI)
    • 270/60, no fans
    • or *very clean* textured PEI at 270/80, default 70 is no good
  • Bambu Support-W (breakaway PLA support) $70 ($35/.5kg): works well enough, expensive

Polyphenylene sulfide (PPS)

Bambu filaments parameter table

Parameter PLA Aero ASA ASA Aero PC ABS ABS-GF PETG-Trans PETG-HF PA6-CF PPA-CF PLA-CF PPS-CF
Print temp ℃ 210-260 240-270 240-280 250-270 240-270 240-270 230-260 230-260 260-290 280-310 210-240 310-340
Print speed mm/s <180 <250 <150 <300 <300 <180 <220 <300 <100 <100 <200 <100
Flow rate ratio 0.5-0.8 0.93-0.97 0.45-0.80
Filament density g/cm³ 1.21 1.05 0.99 1.2 1.05 1.08 1.25 1.28 1.09 1.25 1.22 1.26
Foaming rate 0-120 n/a 0-110 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
Vol. expansion ratio 100-220 102 100-210
Print density g/cm³ 0.55-1.05 1.03 0.46-0.97
Tensile strength MPa 24±2 37±3 32±4 55±4 33±3 36±3 33±4 34±4 102±7 168±4 38±4 87±5
Breaking elongation rate 2.6±0.7 9.2±1.4 5.1±1.6 3.8±0.3 10.5±1.0 6.3±1.2 8.2±1.3 8.6±1.2 5.8±1.6 3.2±0.4 8.4±3.2 1.2±0.4
Bending modulus MPa 1690±120 1920±130 1510±120 2310±70 1880±110 2860±130 1610±130 2050±120 5460±280 9860±480 3950±190 7160±280
Bending strength MPa 45±4 65±5 58±6 108±4 62±4 68±4 68±3 64±3 151±8 208±6 89±4 142±5
Impact strength kJ/m² 28.8±1.3 41.0±2.3 32.0±2.5 34.8±2.1 39±3.6 14.5±1.5 37.4±3.3 31.5±2.2 40.3±2.5 41.7±2.8 23.2±3.7 27.8±2.3
Melt index g/10min 7.7±0.6 7.0±0.8 1.56 ± 0.5 32.2±2.9 34.2±3.8 7.56±1.4 11.7±1.5 28.2±2.7 6.8±0.6 8.4±0.7 3.7±0.6 11.48±1.23
Melting temp ℃ 153 210 204 228 200 202 228 214 223 258 165 284
Heat deflection temp ℃ 53 100 85 117 87 99 74 69 186 227 55 264
Vicat softening temp ℃ 54 106 80 119 94 103 79 70 212 232 69 268

Qualitative comparisons

Manufacturers employ additives to change the properties of their filaments, which I don't attempt to address here. Properties may change across different batches of the same filament. These are very rough comparisons based off oral wisdom.

  • Impact strength: ASA > ABS > PC > PETG > PLA
  • Tensile strength: PA6-CF >> PC >> ASA > ABS ~= PETG > PLA
  • UV resistance: ASA > ABS
  • "Chemical" resistance: PETG > ABS
  • Melting temp: PC > ASA > PETG > ABS >> PLA
  • Heat resistance: PC > ASA > ABS > PETG > PLA
  • Printing speed:
  • Offensiveness (odor, VOCs while printing): ABS > ASA, PC
  • Acetone postprocessing: ASA/ABS only
  • Ease of sanding: PLA > PETG > ABS/ASA
  • Ease of painting: PLA > PETG > ABS/ASA
  • Tendency to warp: PC > ABS/ASA > PLA > PETG
  • Hygroscopicity: PA > PETG/ABS/ASA > PLA
  • Filament density: PETG/PLA > ABS/ASA
  • Hotend temp required: PC > ABS/ASA > PETG > PLA