Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Plastics and Metals
The two main materials in 3D printing are plastics and metals. So far plastic has been the
bigger of the two, but the use of metal materials is developing faster and might eventually
catch up with plastic sometime in the future.
FDM
The thermoplastic ABS is the most common polymer used for Fused Deposition Modeling
printers, and since the appearance of low-cost FDM printers a material called Polylactic
Acid or PLA has become the most popular filament among hobbyists. PLA is a thermo-
plastic derived from cornstarch and is bio-degradable. Cargill-owned Natureworks LLC is
the largest producer of PLA in the world.
Other thermoplastics can also be used in the FDM process but the ease of use is restricted
to compatibility between equipment and material. In theory there is no limit to which ther-
moplastics that may be used with FDM, and hobbyists seem to be experimenting freely with
different materials producing various results. Stratasys, the leading company in FDM tech-
nology, on the other hand, only offered five base materials as late as in 2014: ABS, Nylon,
PC, PPSF/PPSU and Ultem 9085.
