Fiber reinforced 3D printing materials for improved mechanical properties

Specially modified polyamide filaments enable the production of high-quality and stable FDM components



Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), also known by the acronym FFF (Fused Filament Fabrication), is the most widely used 3D printing process and is ideally suited for the production of design samples, functional components and early prototypes. The technology can also be used to produce large components, and it often offers an economical alternative to conventional processes for the production of small batches.

In the FDM process, a workpiece is built up by fusing layers of material. The material is usually a thermoplastic filament. Of our technologies, this process offers the largest selection of different materials. Depending on the application, a choice can be made between flexible, heat-resistant, chemically resistant, UV-stable and mechanically strong plastics. On our materials page you will find all materials available for selection.

Excellent mechanical properties due to filled polyamide filaments



Especially for components that have to meet high mechanical requirements, it is possible to manufacture them from fiber-reinforced plastics. For this, we offer, for example, production from filaments from our partner Fiberthree, a leading manufacturer of AM materials for polyamide-based printing. These filaments have been specially designed for 3D printing and contain an additional filler content of carbon (F3 PA-CF Pro), or glass fibers (F3 PA-GF Pro and F3 PA-GF30 Pro).

These additional fibers bring with them some decisive advantages. Thus, they ensure that shrinkage is minimized, which reduces warpage to a large extent. In addition, the materials exhibit enormous strength combined with high impact strength. They also have good heat and media resistance and high stiffness. However, the latter can quickly lead to breakage with thin wall thicknesses. The surfaces of all three materials have a matte sheen, although they are rough in the case of the two glass-fiber-reinforced materials. The carbon fiber-reinforced F3 PA-CF Pro in particular gives a very high-quality appearance and is thus also suitable in part for printing technical visible components. The weight percentage of additional carbon or glass fibers differs in our selection. F3 PA-CF Pro and F3 PA-GF Pro each have a filler content of 15% by weight, whereas F3 PA-GF30 Pro is filled with 30% glass fibers, which gives it even greater stiffness.

In summary, it can be said that these filaments have very good mechanical properties* that are otherwise only achieved in injection molding, and the components printed with them also impress with their uniform surface structure and feel.

More information on the individual filaments and the technical data sheets can be found on Fiberthree's website.

Do you have components that you would like to have manufactured using the FDM process or one of our other technologies? Feel free to contact us: info@3dbavaria.com

*especially in x-y direction, z-direction usually more brittle.