Plastic 3D printing: an important technology for industrial applications

With the continuous development of additive manufacturing (3D printing) technology and the continuous expansion of applications, enterprises have higher and higher requirements for 3D printing materials, and more and more materials are used. It can be said that the prospect of materials determines the development prospects of additive manufacturing.

Although there are many types of 3D printing materials and flexible choices, plastic 3D printing is the most used choice in the industry.

The necessity of plastic 3D printing in industrial applications is as follows:

1) Diversified print sizes

Now, most of the 3D printer layers on the market are extremely high-precision, and the data shows that it can reach 0.01-0.3mm. With such high precision, smaller parts can be produced. If you need to make larger parts for prototyping, plastic is a good solution.

The 3D printing process of plastic products is mainly based on the plastic wire melt extrusion technology (FDM technology), which is reliable and easy to use and maintain. Large-scale industrial-grade FDM 3d printers have become one of the items of interest for many manufacturing companies, which can obtain accurate and customized parts, and are easy to process.

2) Price

Plastic is one of the most common and cheapest materials, so multiple plastic 3D printed parts can be easily printed for assembly and can be produced in small batches. Using ABS or PLA materials, you can print affordable parts. If you focus on product strength and functional testing, you can also use engineering plastics to solve it. There are many types of 3D printing materials, which can meet the diverse printing needs of enterprises and reduce costs.

3) Higher efficiency than traditional injection molding

Plastic was one of the first materials used in the 3D printing industry, and it provided an efficient way to produce one or more custom-designed products. To manufacture the final part, the mold can be obtained by 3D printing and used as the final tool for the composite structure. Plastic 3D printing materials are the best option for the prototyping process. We can use 3D modeling software to easily make multiple product iterations at a lower price, no need for pre-production molds, just upload the 3D printing model file to the 3D printer, and then 3D print, the whole process is more efficient and faster ,Simple.

4) Plastic 3D printing materials have a wide range of applications

Plastic 3D printing can be used in the medical industry to create 3D printed models of organs, the replacement of car interior parts in the automotive industry, the printing of architectural models, and even the aerospace industry. From proof of concept to prototyping to production, plastic 3D printing materials are useful at every step of the product development process. You can print any plastic component, plastic housing or plastic product, you can freely print any kind of complex design using plastic material.

5) More surface treatments available

When using plastic materials for 3D printing model making, we know that there are subtle layers on the surface of the model. For some users with special industry needs, necessary 3D printing post-processing must be done.