Material
PLA
PLA is a low-cost, rigid plastic with excellent dimensional accuracy, and is a good choice for prototypes and functional parts that do not require strength or heat resistance.
Manufacturing processes
FDM
About
PLA (polylactic acid) is a thermoplastic derived from renewable resources like corn starch, which sets it apart from most other common 3D printing plastics, which are petroleum-based.
It is notably rigid, with tensile strength that holds up well under static loads and excellent dimensional accuracy, but it's also brittle. It tends to crack or snap rather than bend under sudden stress or impact, and it softens once temperatures climb past roughly 50-60 °C.
PLA is a good choice for prototypes, display models, and low-stress mechanical parts like jigs or fixtures.
Technical Details
- Accuracy
- ±0.3% (lower limit of ±0.2 mm)
- Density
- 1.24 g/cm³
- Min. wall thickness
- 1 mm
Technical Properties
- Tensile strength
- 26.8 - 70 MPa
- Tensile modulus
- 1817 - 3973 MPa
- Tensile elongation
- 1.9 - 20%
- Flexural strength
- 46.2 - 88 MPa
- Flexural modulus
- 2461 - 3800 MPa
- HDT (0.45 MPa)
- 50 - 55°C
- Default layer height
- 0.2 mm
- Default infill
- 20%
- Embossing
- min. 0.6 mm
- Engraving
- min. 0.6 mm
- Interlocking parts
- Yes
- Warping risk
- Yes, for parts over 140mm or parts with thin long structures
- Maximum printing dimensions
- 1,200 × 1,350 × 1,200 mm