What Types of Plastics are Used for 3D Printing?
In the past several years, we've seen how 3D printing technology has evolved from fashion to technology. It is just a sight to behold on how things changed during those years. On top of remarkable design possibilities that can be acquired via 3D printing, the level of engineering that's used for printing fabric-like materials are just astonishing.
Despite the fact that we are using metal, sugar, Styrofoam or ceramic to create almost anything in 3D, it all began in plastic. Whether you believe it or not, up to this day, plastics play a significant role in 3D Printing. As we proceed in the next paragraphs, we are going to talk about the most used plastics in textile industry.
Number 1. PLA - called also as Polylactic Acid, this is a bioplastic that is now dominating the 3D printing world. This is made from renewable organic resources similar to sugarcane or cornstarch. In textile industry, PLA-based Filament quality have shown remarkable adhesion to PLA plastics. Due to the fact that it is possible to reinforce it to all types of materials, it is usually seen in producing smart fabric that helps to improve functionality of textile products.
Number 2. ABS - this is known otherwise as Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene which is basically a terpolymer that's made by acrylonitrile as well as polymerizing styrene with polybutadiene. This is again another kind of bioplastic that is widely used for 3D printing purposes. It has the capacity to form filaments and aside from that, it's strong, durable, heat resistant, cost effective and flexible.
On the other hand, one possible drawback of ABS is the fact that it could create a bit of unpleasant smell when it's heated and the vapor has nasty chemicals. As a result, for the fumes not to stay in the area, anyone who plans to use the material must have a properly ventilated location.
Number 3. PVA - it's a water soluble synthetic polymer that stands for Polyvinyl Alcohol. In reality, it is a new type of 3D printing material that is being used to support hold of 3D objects in place. This is not used for a finished product instead, it is intended to support certain portions of the product. As soon as the product is finished, it can be put into water and PVA support structures dissolves leaving the rest of insoluble prints behind. This functions as glue, packaging film or thickener in the world of 3D printing.
It's without a doubt that you can find so many other materials to be used for 3D printing technology but still, the aforementioned materials are what's most used for 3D printing application. Please visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_printing to gain more information about 3D Printings.