Wait, What? PLA is Stronger Than Carbon-Fiber Nylon?

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Today we're going to test a bunch of different 3D printing filaments to see which is the strongest. Are carbon-fiber nylon filaments really as strong as the marketing would have you believe? Or is PLA stronger? Does the addition or carbon fiber make the filament weaker, as many have claimed? We're going to find out today. We'll put PLA, PETG, ABS, PA12-CF, and NylonX to the test. We'll measure deflection under load and ultimate breaking (tensile) strength and see what we can learn.
Materials tested in this video:
*This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
eSun White ABS Filament (Amazon*): amzn.to/2aUPzL1
eSun Orange PETG Filament (Amazon*): amzn.to/2J2HEJ2
QIDI Tech PA12-CF Carbon Fiber Nylon (Amazon*): amzn.to/3LylGyL
NylonX (Matterhackers): www.matterhackers.com/store/c...
R QIDI Tech PLA (included with the QIDI i-Fast printer)
Tools used in this video:
Wilton 6-1/2" Tradesman Vise (Amazon*): amzn.to/33fqPXz
Bondhus Metric Hex Key Set (Amazon*): amzn.to/3eqZzwb
Bondhus SAE Hex Key Set (Amazon*): amzn.to/3h9bJLZ
Shars Magnetic Indicator Holder (Amazon*): amzn.to/3MHwRXb
300Kg/660lb Hanging Crane Scale (Amazon*): amzn.to/3yQ3v3o
00:00 Intro
00:53 The Materials
02:52 Deflection Test Setup
03:43 Deflection Testing
05:58 Deflection Test Results
06:59 Breaking Strength Test Setup
07:24 Breaking Strength Testing
10:46 Breaking Strength Results
12:02 Additional Thoughts
12:54 Conclusion
Raw Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
3d printer filament testing nylon 12 qidi i fast qidi technology

[@Clough42]

Several of you have pointed out that I was quoting numbers in newtons, but the scale was set to pounds. That was my mistake. I set up the scale to read newtons when I assembled my test setup, but later checked the accuracy of the scale using my gym weights, which are marked in pounds. Apparently I changed it and did not set it back. I did scan through the footage to verify it was set to pounds for all of the materials, so the comparisons are valid. Sorry for the confusion.

[@Ideasite]

Units don't matter among relative results.

[@nathanrice7352]

The biggest advantage of the Carbon Fiber filled filaments is the strength to weight ratio, not it's raw strength. A part made from fiber filled will be lighter, with a similar strength.

[@Know-Way]

Freudian slip? Hungry and thinking about Fig Newtons cookies. I print a lot of PETG... so more research into the wide ranging results would be of interest. I mostly use it because it gives a lot before breaking. Thanks for the testing.

[@SongBearME]

How much did each sample weight?

[@3dprintedhardware]

You should try those tests with HTN CF25, which is high temp nylon with 25% carbon fiber, it's also known as black aluminum. I just started using it to test the tools in the 3d printable tool set that I'm selling. I tested a 7/8ths socket made of CF25 on a wheel lug nut and it was way stronger than PLA. The socket printed in PLA got up to 14.4 foot pounds of torque but the CF25 got up to 50.1 ft lbs and that was printing it without the suggested temp settings. I printed it on a CR10 v3 which has a max hotend temp of 270c and the suggested print temp for CF25 is 280c - 310c. I'm currently waiting for an all metal/bi-metal heat break to be delivered so I can upgrade my printer and try printing the CF25 at higher temps to see if that makes it stronger. Even printing the CF25 at 270c though, it still had a metal sounding ring to it when you hit it with your fingernail.

[@mightygrom]

There is a variable that you missed here. We use 3d printed plastic parts for combat robotics and do a lot of testing of different materials. Our tests have shown that the pigments in the plastics make a huge difference. For example, the white ABS likely uses Zinc Oxide as a pigment which greatly reduces the strength of the plastics... while the carbon that is generally used to pigment black filament doesn't affect the strength much. We've been in contact with several of the filament manufacturers, and their engineers have backed up our findings as well. If you want good consistent results, you should probably test all of the parts using the same color... preferably "natural" undyed, but that isn't available for things like cf filled or some of the better flavors of PLA+ Our testing so far (for impact resistance) has two colors of Duramic 3d PLA+ being the top runners... (Black and Red). These filaments print best at a bit higher temp (I use 225c) but it is well within the capabilities of even an inexpensive hobby grade printer like an ender 3.

[@nakedspartan]

I have seen the same in material testing of injection molded parts. Especially nylons, the lighter the color (gray, blue, white) generally the weaker and lower surface energy they have. Same reason if you are having bed adhesion problems, sometimes switching to a natural or black color will fix the issue.

[@AwestrikeFearofGods]

Interesting that you mentioned zinc oxide. What's your source? To my knowledge titanium dioxide is the most common white pigment, when opacity is desired.

[@maxxgraphix]

Wow. Duramic PLA+ black is my go to for durability! Seems you came to the same conclusion.

[@AntiMaxer]

for strength id say pla+ for short powerful repetitive impacts pa6 cf nylon hoffman tactical did a whole video on it considering what he builds with it for impact testing i trust his word, polymaker often hops on his streams and also agree

[@dutchrussell]

Funny, this is true of fabrics too. Often lighter colors undergo harsher chemical treatment.

[@centurialinc]

We did similar testing for our products and got mostly the same results. PLA is the best all arounder. But we have a temperature requirement and that ruled out PLA for us. We tried it just to make sure and just a little heat in an oven and oddly enough tossing it in the freezer made the parts deform to the point that they stopped working. During our testing we did discover a few key things that may be affecting your results. 1) the rate at witch you pull matters, that rate is based on the sampling rate of the scale. If you move to quickly the force will fail the part before the scale updates the reading. Giving you a bad reading. Consider using a Load cell and the good old Oscilloscope to recode the loads. 2) the angle of applied force matters, that angle must be consistent. If the forces shift slightly it can lead to the part being loaded favorably or unfavorably depending on the shape of the parts. Try a more rigid linear slide and add an electric actuator to slowly and consistently apply the load. We got ours off amazon. 3) print settings matter, they effect layer adhesion and that effects the ultimate performance. Your results are hinting at possible issues with controlling the printing conditions. Bubbles in the material and to cold of print settings will lead to huge swings in performance. Dry everything in the oven at 100F for 8 hrs and run it all on hot settings. 4)sample more than 2 or 3. these materials fluctuate naturally and any sample less than 10 is asking for misleading (biased) results. We have a saying. The first data set is the worst data set. Old filament may have issues, new is preferred, the temperature of the room matters. The more brittle the material the more it fails statistically and less predictably, and cold temperatures will cause this specifically for thermal plastics. The temperatures should be around 75F Or the operating temperature that the part will experience during it's life. 5) load the part realistically, if your part is going to hang something then make extra sure that as you load it the part is free to deform and move in the way it would in real life. Over restricting the movement of the part can lead to unnatural twist or bending that could cause early or late failure. This can often times be hard to do with things that hang. Consider a sand bucket free floating body test. Hang a metal bucket and put your load cell between the bucket and part. Use a funnel and slowly allow sand to fill the bucket till the part fails. This allows the load to move with the part, which can not be done with a constrained loading machine. put something under the bucket to catch it. like a stool or box so it doesn't fall far or tip over and spill. Good luck I look forward to seeing a follow up video.

[@als4817]

Excellent comment, thank you for posting ! PETG must be printed properly to achieve the best results, and each printer must be setup to print it. As pointed out layer adhesion in PETG needs careful attention. The conditions of each filament roll are very important, age, how stored, dryness, etc. Nylon requires careful attention, I;m doubtful of switching material to do testing can achive that without careful tuning. I believe we ask too much of these printers, expecting the same machine to easily adapt to very differnet materials. Thank you for posting an excellent video !

[@WhereNerdyisCool]

Good points. I'd also add that there are also Tough PLA blends out there that may improve some qualities and some that have CF in them. For me, most of the CF materials I have used add no strength to the part and frequently make it harder to print. However, that matte finish is very very nice

[@custos3249]

Very true about the sample size. Really though, you don't get any statistical significance until you hit 23 data points at the absolute bare minimum.

[@deltajohnny]

Awesome comment! 👏👏👏

[@wilurbean]

Yep, I thought it was kind of obvious that the materials weren't all printed adequately. Delaminating layers was the give away imo. It's also expected - most of us have a favored material and use it way more often. Fresh filament, honed settings... yeah the prints weren't done with the same quality. So you're going to publish the results you tested right?

[@rvent3605]

You can also easily anneal PLA to make it even stronger. I usually just anneal PLA on the printer bed at 120c, and put a plastic container over the part so that the heat stays enclosed close to the part. I’ve found doing that for PLA brackets make them soooo much stronger and also increases the heat deflection point from 60c to 90 or 100c.

[@nils1953]

What printer are you using that has a print bed with 120°C+?

[@johnandrews9433]

@@nils1953 most are capable of that lol

[@nils1953]

@@johnandrews9433 lol. Okay then it's just my oldtimer one that struggles to get up to 90.

[@rvent3605]

Both my old cheap Chinese printers can do that, one with the smaller 15cm x 15cm bed gets there quickly and holds it without a problem, the other printer with a ender 3 sized bed I’d take to 110 at most. Any printer that says it can print abs should do at least 110c as usually you need the bed at that temp because of warping.

[@nils1953]

@@rvent3605 hmm. My ultimaker2 only goes up to 100°

[@Ideasite]

This is a great clip. One of the best parts about it is the thought provoking subject and the fantastic group of followers. I learn so much from James, but a ton more from the rest of you. It's amazing~! Thanks, James!

[@Diehard754]

This is only the 3rd video of yours I have watched. I would just like to say that my experience has been really good. Your videos just seem to have this perfect balance of information to go along with what you are doing or explaining. It’s rare these days to get to the end of a video and be like “oh, it’s over”. You definitely seem to capture my attention very well and I enjoy all the bits of information you add in. You are very good at explaining things. Love your work. Thank you

[@bruce150]

Thanks for the results James. Very nice job. I appreciate your dedication.

[@mrtnsnp]

Nice testing. Harder to test, but I think that consistency between copies is perhaps a more important measure than pure strength for a few parts. You can design for a specific strength if you know the behaviour of a material, but if the material shows large variations then the only way is to always overbuild them, which may not be what you have room for.

[@dagr8kerek]

I would love to see you testing 3DX Tech’s ASA (or ABS) reinforced with Carbon Fiber. It’s currently my favorite strong and stiff filament. I’d be glad to pay for the roll and support your content anyway I can. Keep up the great vids!!

[@riccello]

I recently started using Creality CR-PLA. My 5 S1 printer came with it and I gotta say, this stuff is amazing! Very clean, accurate and has the best hardness I have ever seen in a printed part.

[@chadkrause6574]

This was a very informative video, thanks! Keep up the great work

[@chuysaucedo7119]

That was surprising! Thanks for doing this. For my personal prints, some of which I have products made, I do try different materials (well, just pla and petg) to see what material is better suites for the particular application. Thanks for doing this

[@alessampiyonu]

hello, i am gonna print a vacuum cleaner wheel, which material do you recommend, petg or pla? the wheel design has small clips to plug in to vacuum cleaner

[@seanwolfe9321]

Hi James, I do print quite a bit of PETG, it is my go-to for all the reasons (or people's conceptions) of why someone would choose to use it. I do find the print characteristics can vary easily by print settings and even ambient conditions when printed, let's call this "finicky". For me this is a consideration in material choice. I.E. your choice of the carbon fiber reinforced may have lower values, but its less finicky and you get far more consistent results. As this anomaly in PETG is worth further investigation, I would love to see you take your scientific approach to it. As always, great testing and fair reporting of the results.

[@chrisgill5692]

I fully agree with that. Part has to be designed with PETG in mind. I have found PETG to be quite brittle (almost glass-like) if designed or printed in such a way to not let it flex - eg more walls, less in-fill. Also, I always try print at highest temperature possible, in an enclosure.

[@rdh2059]

I also use PETG a lot, but one purpose it doesn't seem to work well at is as shelf brackets. The creep doesn't seem to stop over time. In my office I have a wall of filament made of shelf brackets made of black petg. About a year later, one of the rows just collapsed, dropping all the filament. The layers on the bracket looked like they had slowly pulled apart over time. PETG is known for very good layer adhesion, so this was a bit of a surprise, but ironically this same thing happened to "3D Printing Nerd" about a year after he set up a filament rack with brackets. For being under a load for a long time, PETG needs CF. I decided to use PA-CF and that has worked very well. A couple months later, another row collapsed in the same way. I then replaced all the brackets with PC-CF and they've held since (2 years now) with no deflection or creep.

[@tubejim101]

Thank you for making this video. I was surprised with the results.

[@benstrait333]

Thanks, James, really interesting video. I've been looking forward to this since you made the speaker mounts. I appreciate your pragmatic approach and just going by the numbers 👍

[@jtrueman88]

Great video James, I'd like to add one important thing to the PLA 1st place. As others pointed out the problem for PLA are elements and temperature, therefore these lovely brackets could have a serious issues outside. But what I haven't seen in the comments, is the PLA has tendency to flow under load. It could not be a problem for such a small part vs weight of soundbar, but... Few weeks ago I talked to the guys from MyCello (3d printed tailor made chellos). We have agreed on this PLA behaviour as they had to switch from PLA bodies to the PETG, which seems to be OK for they use. On the other hand I have printed many holders in my garrage from PLA, after few years they're still fine. Even parts on my motorbike where they got beaten by sun and rain. I love CF filaments for plastics which are hard to print due to warping...

[@theincapable]

I can confirm that PLA flows under load. I built a belt tensioner for a printer with it and it didn't survive a year.

[@22fritts]

Thanks for the testing, James. I'd be very interested in the cost/unit of the various material. So many things are engineered to a price these days. For anything done at scale, it has to be a consideration.

[@DavidLindes]

A valid question. However, I will just point out that "for anything done at scale", one probably isn't using fused filament fabrication, and instead using something like injection molding or such... which kinda changes the whole game. Then again, there are degrees of "at scale", so, again, a valid question!

[@icbtech01]

Good analysis. This was the first video of yours I watched. It was a very good idea to point out that the application should dictate which material parameters are the prime concern (and therefore which material to use), and that there are many more properties of these materials that were not explored and could be prime factors in selecting the best material for your application. Well done.

[@SmalltimR]

Awesome video - tests like these are so very helpful - appreciate the work

[@Nitor_]

Interesting test! One thing I would change for a future test is to use a different colour of ABS, as white ABS needs a lot of colourant that reduces the part strength.

[@GMCLabs]

Yeah probably the fairest way to do it would be with all filaments being their natural color with no colorants.

[@mechanismguy]

A possible explanation for the high load PETG result is that it deflected so much it kind of turned into a tensile test.

[@johncrow5552]

It always is a tensile test. Thats what stretching is. The point where it begins to bend is called the yield point. Point they all snap is called the ultimate tensile strength.

[@robertdevito5001]

It's like when you see those strength tests on wrenchs and the snapon wrench breaks while the cheap crap deforms so much it just spins. Is it useful for a tool to survive more at the expense of its ability to actually perform its function? Nope.

[@davidmott2090]

I like where this series is going. Keep up the great work!

[@GeoffTV2]

Great test, thanks. Like you, I am surprised by the outcome. I'm certainly interested to see a bit more PETG vs PLA testing to see if it's possible to get that super-strength result in a consistent way.

[@sumthinfresh]

Well done. Concise and straightforward.

[@thedabblingwarlock]

CNCKitchen has a whole series on testing different filaments. It's a pretty thorough testing regime, too. You may want to check out Stefan's videos and maybe see about getting him some Carbon Fiber nylon to test. This was interesting and nice to know that I'm not going to be a total idiot for making furniture parts out of PLA.

[@Wolfpup67]

Stefan's testing is more of a 'laboratory' style parts testing while the testing here is more 'real world' as the part put under load is for a real application. Stefan's testing can give you a good 'base line' while in this video this is more the way the engineers will test actual parts and materials for a given application now there are other things to take into consideration as well as layer orientation when designing and printing a part. Those are the infill density, printing temp (both at the printhead and the environment), part cooling amount, RH of the filament and environment during printing, the way the part is sliced for printing (i.e. weaker areas of the print more walls/infill). All these factors and more can affect the resulting parts total strength and weak points.

[@CyFi6]

My biggest gripe with PLA is creep over time even at low temperatures. That means if you use it as a bracket, you shelf is going to sag and fall down eventually. If you threat it for a fastener it will lose clamping force over time. if you use it for anything structural with a load on it it wont hold its shape. Makes it pretty much useless for me in any practical application.

[@MrRctintin]

Another great video, thanks for your time making these.

[@therouxl1]

We appreciate your honesty, and your fantastic videos sir! Keep them coming if you would be so kind.

[@AlJay0032]

One dimension I think which is also important, is how good one can glue them. Nylon is hard to glue and ABS can be glued with acetone by dissolving the surface and getting a very good bond. Many dimensions to the properties. Also not all materials are the same when it comes to ease of printing.

[@paulgallagher2937]

You can use Loctite 770 primer and instant adhesive. Very expensive but works great.

[@AlJay0032]

@@paulgallagher2937 What can they glue? PP? PE? Nylon? Low surface energy plastics? Nice. Yes, most of these solutions which actually work are rather expensive. Thanks for your reply, wasn't aware of this product.

[@paulgallagher2937]

@@AlJay0032 Yes it will work on PP, PE and even silicone rubber

[@paulgallagher2937]

I did try using acetone because its way cheaper, but not even close to same results. They got some magic chemicals in the primers and activators.

[@julianwatts9024]

That’s why it’s important to understand the characteristics of each material for your project. Pla is more rigid but generally where it falls short is on heat deflection and impact strength. Of course there are alloys that try to minimize those. If you don’t need heat deflection and impact strength 99.9% of the time you can buy the pla. Would love for you to test taulman gf and cf nylons, there finish is injection mold quality.

[@dingosmoov]

I really enjoyed your presentation style. Subscribed.

[@sergeb7945]

Hi James. PLA is very prone to creep, even under very light loads. PLA brackets would continuously creep under the sole weight of the sound bar IMHO

[@creamofbotulismsoup9900]

This is what I've have always heard too, but I haven't seen any good long term testing that actually demonstrates that PLA creeps more than most of the other common 3d printed plastics. What little info I have seen demonstrates that PLA performs similarly to if not slightly better than PETG, ABS and ASA at room temp. The outliers appear to be PC which creeps the least, nylon 6 the most, and nylon 12 is more or less in the middle.

[@chrislosada6701]

@@creamofbotulismsoup9900 I got a spool holder I designed on PLA. Thing started creeping a couple days later.

[@creamofbotulismsoup9900]

​@@chrislosada6701 Personally I haven't had any issues with my PLA prints that are kept at a relatively dry and constant 74F environment. I'd imagine not all PLAs are the same either. Really I'm looking for a controlled experimental data, with a large sample of many different filaments and many other factors such age of prints, age of the filament, whether or not it has been exposed to light for any length of time, moisture content, if it was printed with a heated chamber or a heated bed and of course different environmental conditions. I know it's a lot of work, but that's what is needed to get truly useful data, not just anecdotes from random people on the internet.

[@DeanTheDoctor]

PLA is actually one of the best choices for making (low speed) gears out of, because it has such great toughness/bond strength, stiffness and is incredibly resistant to wear. However, over the last few years, they have been making more subtle introductions into PLA which can make it more rubber-like. This does make it more resistant to cracking, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of you are not experiencing the same results. It is usually a very dense, and very hard wearing material. 🙂🌎❤️

[@sergeb7945]

@Zakir Siddiqui (wikipedia) In materials science, creep (sometimes called cold flow) is the tendency of a solid material to undergo slow deformation while subject to persistent mechanical stresses. It can occur as a result of long-term exposure to high levels of stress that are still below the yield strength of the material. In other words: Let's say this TV stand can tolerate 40kg without breaking. Even though, it will slowly and permanently sag (withing several days / weeks) under a load of just 10kg... PLA is clearly not the right material of choice for applications where a permanent load is at play. I've experience even more creep with "PLA+" (a small amount of different polymers such as TPU are added to turn PLA less brittle and improve printability)

[@HM-Projects]

Good sciencing. PETG and ABS need a well heated enclosure for the cross layer adhesion to work well, I generally print them at a slightly higher temperature than the recommended max and they're usually stronger over a longer time interval. PLA's strength deteriorates over time, especially if they're exposed to direct / indirect sunlight. One thing to test / consider is post processing the prints in the oven, tightly packed in some super fine salt. It heat cures the layers to form a very strong part.

[@Clough42]

The ABS was printed at 240C in an 80C heated print chamber.

[@20vK]

@@Clough42 in my experience, many white materials have a heavy pigment ratio. White plastisol screen print ink can be like treacle compared to black and other colours, for example! Not sure if it's the same for the plastics we print with, but I wouldn't be shocked if it turned out that white filament ended up being measurably weaker than other colours. Not that it would change your ABS results.... But it would be interesting to test, either way!

[@DeanTheDoctor]

@@20vK I've noticed this in some parts as well. Colors definitely play an impact on the structural strength of the plastic around them, due to the size of their pigments. Clear is usually best for the greatest impact resistance and flexibility, but it also tends to be just a little bit easier to scratch as well. 😊🌎❤️

[@fluffypinkpandas]

@@DeanTheDoctor ive noticed even in resin printing that clear resins (not filaments) like superPP, Nylon Green, and Siraya Blue have impressive properties over every other resin. they are like glass but can withstand the tremeandous forces demanded of suppressors and firearm frames you may be onto something with pigment particles playing a role in overall chemical properties of the print black carbon products have all behaved like charcoal for me when broken opaque white parts are more elastic and break like pvc

[@DeanTheDoctor]

@@fluffypinkpandas Incredible. And thank you very much for adding your experiences my friend. This helps 😊🌎✨

[@goodcitizen7064]

Well thought out and intelligent conversation. Earned the sub!

[@TheSmokintbird]

Great video! I would love to see a video testing the creep over time being tested using the same test brackets...good part choice.

[@TacohMann]

As others have pointed out, it appears your scale was set incorrectly to lbs - doesn't invalidate the results, just changes the units :) very interesting video, I've been looking into buying the X1 Carbon, but after this video (and other, similar videos from CNC kitchen), I'm finding it harder and harder to justify the purchase.

[@akierum]

Why? You have found more reliable printer, bambulab bannana bed problem made you rethink?

[@Corbald]

PETG strength can vary _significantly_ based on the temperature of the extrusion and the temperature of the build volume during the print. For best results, keep these factors steady during printing and bias toward hotter temps for stronger parts. That first value (in lbs) is repeatable and typical of a hot PETG print. PETG is _by far_ my favorite printing material for parts that need to be strong, but can also be somewhat flexible.

[@alejandroperez5368]

PETG loves to stick to the nozzle. And you won't find matte finish filaments. Not so nice looking.

[@Corbald]

@@alejandroperez5368 Both valid points, but if the finish isn't as important as the structural integrity, PETG holds up best, especially considering it's inter-layer adhesion is top-notch. I haven't worked with any of the super hot stuff, like PEEK, but for regular ranges, it beats out the competition for me.

[@HighVoltageKits]

@@alejandroperez5368 Try the carbon infused petg for a really clean Matt finish

[@DeanTheDoctor]

If y'all can, try to build or buy an enclosure as they can greatly help with the efficiency and layer adhesion of our parts. Even a thin sheet or a plastic bag helps. 😊🌎❤️

[@fluffypinkpandas]

i dont understand how some people print firearms with carbon petg, but i can bend the parts with my fingers and they explode like frag grenades under any stress. parts printed at 250 on a 90 bed at moderate flow rate

[@DWIT3D]

Wow, this was an eye opener for me, and like you, I was very surprised at the results. The PETG was disappointing, as I expected more from it. Great video, and another sub. Thanks!

[@cletusberkeley9441]

Great info James, very interestiing

[@timlong7289]

Care is needed when using PLA for engineering because it will creep over time if it is under constant load. ABS is much more stable over time and under load and that's why it is commonly used for engineering.

[@anusrepairman]

Would be interesting to see creep testing, especially if youre making a wall mount where the plastic print will be under stress over long periods of time

[@alexeiscompanioni575]

Great real material testing. In other section i would like to see similar study for temperature resistance because this is another critical property in order to select it. I’m a beginner in 3D printing and i have much to learn. Thanks for your work and your channel.

[@joewhitney4097]

Interesting test video. Thanks for sharing.

[@Skwisgar2322]

It would be interesting to see how PLA+ compares to standard PLA in this test.

[@alexxu3004]

in my experience PLA+/PRO layer adheason is much much better

[@fluffypinkpandas]

i heard pla plus and pro are just PLA ABS cross cantamination ratios

[@SergeiSugaroverdoseShuykov]

@@fluffypinkpandas plus or pro can be whatever you want and it different between different filament makers, so both things does not means something specific but used to differentiate "modified" product

[@fluffypinkpandas]

@@SergeiSugaroverdoseShuykov modified pla and modified abs huh. seems about right

[@tomclanys]

I just printed eSun PLA+ which is a copolymer with TPU as far as I know, seems a bit more flexible, so probably less brittle and stronger. The filament itself feels much tougher to break in hand. It's supposed to be almost 2x as strong as normal PLA. I need to print it over 210*C, because at that temp layer adhesion was slightly too weak and I got a small separation from pulling off bed.

[@eclsnowman]

One recommendation I would make for petg is make sure you're using as minimal cooling as possible for strength. Petg has poor crystalization properties if cooled too quickly. Any chance between the one part and the other two you had changed the cooling percentage? Great video as always.

[@Kmnri]

Yup, i run petg at 10% fan cooling and pla is nowhere near the amount of bending force that petg can take.

[@rednecktech9485]

Agreed I run PETG at 0% with 10% on overhangs I think there was some layer adhesion issues or something. My PETG parts have been really strong

[@konaguzzi1]

Eric, I have not done any sort of printing myself but my first thought was the printing or cooling cycles were not the same. Clearly to me anyway this was evident in the results, but also makes me wonder if the others were printed with the best/optimal settings

[@zakariakhamees]

The problem is, PETG is hygroscopic. So if you decrease cooling, the final part will be full of strings. That's why it needs to be dried out first which is extra work. And that's why PETG is not worth it for me. PLA is the king.

[@DeanTheDoctor]

Most filaments do absorb moisture to some extent, and that's why it helps to create a heated filament dry box. (Most of us end up making ours out of clear storage totes, printed roller guides, and using whatever insulation is most available to us. Foam, cardboard, etc) PETG is a great medium! They're all great mediums, but they do have different properties in which each excels. I generally print with PETG myself, (for its ease of use and relatively high thermal resistance, (it doesn't *typically* ever melt in a car)) although when it comes to surface durability, (scratch resistance) stiffness, and bond strength, PLA is unique in that it's characteristics (and density) is like that of a cast resin part than other plastics. While it doesn't take much heat, it can form some Incredibly tough surfaces and it does make for some good (low speed) gears and high load bearing surfaces and rollers which will last a long time. Even in real world scenarios. (I've made lasting parts out of PETG as well. 😊🌎❤️) I've heard that annealing can greatly improve PLA's temperature resistance, (and overall parts strength as well,) but I've yet to try this. 🙂 Keep in mind that PLA is only 1 of the many bio-plastics we have designed and I'm sure that there will be more that may replace many of the more common ones that we use today, (it all in the formulations and the bonds which gives plastics and resins their unique properties) perhaps making several, easy to use, low cost plastics that can rival most of the things that we use today. Fingers crossed gentleman! 😊🌎❤️

[@John-NeverStopLearning]

Thank you James! I am starting to print tools for my work shop. Mostly 90% for woodworking. 90* for clamping, corners for belt clamps and so on. I have been very happy using eSun PLA +, even as a beginner a year ago. Until I watched your video I was thinking I should use a material other than PLA.

[@zpbeats3938]

Deflection over time is something I'd really like to see with the same part. Thanks for the vid!

[@Hazdazos]

Nice video. Consider having a larger sample size as well as maybe adding a couple of other materials such as ASA or PC. Personally I stick with PLA just because of how darn easy it is to print, but I'm always open to new materials if they can prove having better material properties for certain applications.

[@chocolatemonk]

I am looking at ASA for it's outdoor uses. I see all these great things to print that in in Arizona melt

[@ferrumignis]

Impact strength is one of the weaknesses of regular PLA, it's quite brittle. Some improved PLAs trade off some ultimate strength for significantly toughness e.g. e-Sun PLA-ST.

[@Jwmbike14]

Well done. I switched to PLA+ quite a long time ago. It's reliable, prints well, and has extraordinarily good layer adhesion.

[@corbelius6]

My kind of Nerd! Keep up the great work. New subscriber!

[@matyasiadam4656]

No surprises for those how are familiar whit engineering! For the rest look at technical data sheets the important numbers are: "TENSILE STRENGTH" will let you compare which will break under higher load for the same section aria. PLA is ~100N/mm^2, Nylon ~60-70N/mm^2, PETG ~50N/mm^2, ABS ~40N/mm^2 (you see the order matches whit the test results). The "Young modulus or Elastic modulus" will tell you know how rigid a material will be, higher the number higher the rigidity. Carbon reinforced Nylon >3500N/mm^2, PLA 2800-3500N/mm^2, ABS 1800-2400N/mm^2, PETG 1400-2000N/mm^2. Again no surprise. Whit other words READ THE TECHNICAL DATA SHEET! As for temperature, materials maintain these properties under, 45 °C for PLA, 140°C for Nylon, 105°C for ABS, 80°C for PETG of course these warry according to blend and manufacturer. In terms chemical resistance PETG is resistant to far more chemicals than any other while ABS is probably the worst in this group (depending on blend). If failure mod is a factor look at elongation at break, higher the percentage the more ductile the material and will fail les violently.

[@thisnicklldo]

Very interesting set of tests. Testing materials is hard, and you did some easy ones, and I don't blame you. But I am a bit unconvinced of the value of UTS tests, especially for a plastic material that can creep. Really, for real world design, it's the yield strength you would work to, surely - OK, after yielding it may hang on for a bit, and that may save someones life or stop something important getting broken, but you'd never design to that standard. The problem is that finding the yield point is hard, especially on a relatively elastic material like you are using. In support of my comment, you yourself were looking closely for signs of yield on a couple of the tests. But yield strength might well give very different answers - the ones that were strongest did seem to bend a long way, no way to tell if they would have gone back, or how far, but quite possibly worse than the low UTS materials.

[@smkole2]

Really like this video James.TY sir

[@elanman608]

Nice job keeping it simple and applying the test to the use case in question. The trouble with 3d printing materials is that the geometry of any given part seems to have more effect than the mechanical properties of the polymer. Stefan at CNC kitchen has done a lot of work characterising different filaments mostly testing ultimate tensile strength with the layers and across the layers which shows the disparity in strength between the different axes. I have found when using PLA the problem is temperature, even in the UK a part left in direct sunlight can easily reach 40C and start to deform. I printed a nice drawer to store bits and bobs under my Ender 3, 2 days later it was banana shaped and I had to destroy it to get hold of my spare nozzles and cutters.

[@TheScabbage]

The biggest advantage to CF filaments is dimensional accuracy. PLA also has a slightly higher density than the other filaments, so other than just having a lower strength/weight ratio, a 1kg spool of it will print fewer parts. Those are all minor issues though compared to PLA's poor creep characteristics and relatively low glass transition temp (parts will just turn into blobs over here in Australia if they're left in a hot car).

[@fluffypinkpandas]

i hear having annealed edges helps

[@alksmdlaks]

​@@fluffypinkpandaswhy bother annealing your prints and adding another post processing step when you can just use a better filament

[@fluffypinkpandas]

@@alksmdlaks i agree just use better filament. but also anneal the better filament

[@davidnunez3523]

PLA does that all around the world and will never stand up to a hot car test anywhere. in my opinion PLA is a hobbyist filament to teach people how to use a 3d printer and it has no other use than printing ornamental things that you don't count on lasting.

[@Graham_Wideman]

Sure would be interesting to see a finite-element model of stress to see how it distributes during the pull. I'm thinking that failure is precipitated by the weakest area, after which other areas fail having been let down by the first area. It looks to me like the design is too dependent on the very thin region around the recessed screw adjacent to the "diagonal" side. So if might turn out this is really a test of that specific kind of feature. Not that it's an issue for the actual application, just for the testing results. Regardless -- good on James for doing some tests and entertaining us!

[@Ideasite]

You hit the key way before me! That thin spot queers the whole deal. (Can you use that expression any more?)

[@tomfoolery2913]

He should've tested on a "coupon" of material and not a specific element, this is not the correct way to test materials

[@joell439]

Thanks James for the useful empirical data. 👍👍😎👍👍

[@thegoldbug]

What a great vice you have there $$$$$$. And the rest of your shop tools. Very nice setups.

[@seanb250]

What stands out is that the dial indicator doesn’t return to zero on the carbon fibre samples, so it distorts in a short period of time and doesn’t return to its original shape. The biggest advantage of the PA/CF is temperature and chemical resistance, like for automotive use 👍

[@bluegizmo1983]

PETG has pretty good chemical resistant too. I've actually used PETG to print functional automotive parts that see gasoline and that live in the hot engine bay of a vehicle and it has held up perfectly without issue.

[@seanb250]

@@bluegizmo1983 agreed but then they don’t have the rigidity of the PA/CF.

[@Snookers_]

I'd be really interested to see bending and tensile tests of regular nylon against nylon CF. My guess is it might be marginally better in bending but no better in tension. In the world of fiber-reinforced composites, your strength is very dependent on fiber length and load transfer. Unfortunately, these chopped CF filaments have such short fibers that loads don't really transfer to the fibers and instead they just shear around in the plastic. They might improve stiffness in bending though. Again, these are just my assumptions.

[@NNFaNRacing]

A big factor in the strength of composites is the adhesion between the filler and the matrix. In this case CF is the filler and Nylon is the matrix. Unless the stresses in the material can bridge the filler to the matrix material effectively you essentially just made a part with a bunch of voids. If the Nylon or CF were modified to have better adhesion to each other the strength could be drastically improved.

[@RazDesignAB]

Great video! good science-approach to it , this is the way it should be done :)

[@rvandope]

Super informative, thanks! I think with a different part geometry you could have a lot more strength. Each part seemed to fail at the screw holes, beefing that area up or even having that spline continue in between those two screw holes could make a big difference. But I'm sure it was designed around certain requirements and you made it as strong as possible for its application. Cool video.

[@johncrow5552]

This was not an experiment in how good the design was but to compared different filaments.

[@frijoli9579]

These tests went almost exactly as I expected. Except the PETG break test. The biggest issue with PLA is heat for sure and it moves at MUCH lower temperatures. IF you haven't already check out CNCKitchen

[@alejandroperez5368]

@@derschwartzadder "even a car interior in summer can destroy it". Even? That's an actually hot environment. If you said "even in winter" then yeah.

[@martinmckee5333]

@@alejandroperez5368 Yes. A car in summer is hot, but not unusually so. The point was that it doesn't require being in the engine bay, or a component of an oven to deflect. There are many real-world scenarios that are simply without the useful temperature range of PLA. That said, it's still my primary filament for functional prints.

[@pierrick1705]

you say newton but the scale clearly points to lb.

[@petergamache5368]

He clearly doesn't give a fig (newton).

[@rpavlik1]

Nice testing!

[@johnbettes5785]

Very interesting and educational for a newbie to 3D printing. I have taken screen shots of both of your graphs and I will use them when choosing a material type under those needs. Yes, heat and UV ect. must be considered for different circumstances but for most applications, unless you are Machining critical parts, I think your testing covers most needs. Thank you.

[@conorstewart2214]

Have a look at CNC kitchen, he tests loads of materials in quite a lot of tests, including impact strength and failure temperature and also tests different techniques like annealing or remelting in salt.

[@Nobody-Nowhere]

I only use carbon filaments for that matte look. Carbon filaments just look really good, but it just means there is less plastic.. it essentially a filler material, it cant really do much. Good PLA is just really good, its cheap and the parts are strong and rigid. I think a lot of these special filaments, are kinda hype.. there is just way higher margins in them.. and everyone starts looking for special stuff at some point. To feel all fancy.

[@Ideasite]

I was wondering about that. It's the fiber that matters to carbon fiber. Otherwise it's coal dust. I'd be interested to see the manufacturing process to understand if they have any way of keeping the characteristics of long fibers in these filaments. Hell, Kingsford's cheap. I'll start making that black stuff by the weekend. Just need a comic book name for it. The wife's probably not going to be happy with me.

[@yony120]

PLA doesn't hold up to heat and it's brittle. This may or may not matter to your application.

[@YEETPRIME]

@@Ideasite there are very different grades of carbon fiber filled materials ranging from ground cf (dust as you mention), milled, aerospace grade (see 3dxtechs website), and continuous fiber (like markforged). CF can definitely improve material characteristics - IIRC flexural modulus of ASA is almost 2x that with CF (based on 3dxtechs TDS)

[@alejandroperez5368]

@@YEETPRIME No. Carbon fiber is only there to make the filament printable (reduce warping). Some carbon fiber dust won't give it any strength.

[@gsdtdeaux7978]

@@Ideasite also the fibers need to reach from layer to layer to actually make them useful. I could see how they might help reduce warping but i dont really think they make the parts stronger.

[@nicholasbartels6800]

Your crane scale appears to be on "lb" not "N". What unit of force were you actually measuring?

[@GenericAnimeBoy]

I noticed that too. Presumably that's "pounds force", about 4.45N.

[@relativisticvel]

@@GenericAnimeBoy pounds is a force not a mass.

[@Drassk]

Definitely look like lbf...if those values were Newtons, those things would be incredibly weak.

[@Ideasite]

Units don't matter - dial provides a percentage comparison.

[@WideAwakeHuman]

@@relativisticvel pound is a unit mass bro, just like gram - pound-force and gram-force are force units on each due to gravity. I’m no dam physicist but that’s at least the most common way to use those words

[@victor-antonioali378]

Thank you for this video it's always nice to see realtime results. I appreciate the repeatability of this test. Obviously with any repeatable statistical analysis the higher the number of tests samples the closer to an actual result, that is my only suggestion. I know that time, effort, and money make it hard to have hundreds or thousands of samples. But for any of these types of results to be reliable, the number of test samples should be in the thousands. Maybe there could be a cross channel collab, where each channel studies many samples?

[@xyzspec82]

Stop everything! Time to watch James video! 🙌🏻

[@jacobjohnson4763]

You’re saying newtons of force but your digital scale is set to lbs not newtons

[@gareth4168]

I saw the same - 1 lb is about 4.5 N - assuming James is on the surface of earth as lb are mass and N is force :)

[@dreamrestore213]

What does that matter for this test genius..??

[@DD-sw1dd]

@@gareth4168 lb is a confusing measurement as it can be both a force and a mass depending. I’m an American, so imperial makes more sense visually, but when I went to school and imperial was used it was a real pain for engineering. Imperial mass: Slugs is the SI unit lbm is another (but it’s commonly just written as “lb” for added confusion” Then we have force: lbf (usually written, once again, as “lb”).

[@aaronbrown1582]

@@dreamrestore213 because if he reports the strength ratings in Newtons on some website, people will think they are around 4.5 times weaker than they really are since it’s actually in lb not N.

[@lemonstealinghorsdoeuvre]

But it's not a cookie, it's fruit and cake

[@jamesmauer7398]

I'd be interested to see how the nylon performs after absorbing some moisture (from ambient humidity)

[@greglaletin]

Same here. Please print some for the same test after 2 months or maybe just a day in the sauna.

[@carlosjoe5154]

Thanks a lot for your research! I very appreciate your work, you help me a lot actually!

[@carlosjoe5154]

But i wish you had included Polycarbonate into your testing tho, or maybe even Carbon Fibre reinfroced Polycarbonate. I wonder how they would have performed in this scenario.

[@WPGinfo]

Interesting tests; Thnx

[@dbvandy]

"Than" not "then"

[@airgunningyup]

been printing with PLa for 7 yrs. Never tried anything else , I always felt it was decent for most applications. And this testing corroborates it . Not to say other filaments arent better for certain applications , im just too lazy to experiment for small gains.

[@alejandroperez5368]

What are you printing? Toys? Try printing something that will be inside a car, or in direct sunlight with some weight on it.

[@airgunningyup]

@@alejandroperez5368 almost all pellet gun parts, things that arent exposed to sun for long periods.

[@andyb7754]

WOW, I'm more surprised then you are. I would have thought PLA would have been weaker. Thank you for the very informative informational video.

[@EdgeGaming]

You're the Project Farm of 3D printing lol! Awesome and interesting content :)

[@sewing_machines]

I love your videos. Really nice job. Go ahead

[@missilpeludo8813]

Really good test!!! Tku

[@aleksandernordgardenrdner1520]

Very interesting test. I noticed that the NylonX appeared to take a bit of a set during the deflection test, which is something one might want to take into consideration. Well done for testing your assumptions and sharing the results. This is how we get smarter!

[@fabio-franco]

I really love this type of videos and it helps tremendously people to decide what material to use in their project. Only problem is that, it sometimes can inadvertently provide impressions that may not necessarily be true in all circumstances. I am saying this because I was quite surprised with PA-CF performance. My experience is that regardless of number of walls, or infill density, PA-CF strength can vary wildly depending on temperature and speed they were with. It also has very low tolerance to imperfections when laying down the layers, whilst PLA just seem to fuse together with imperfections very easily. Because PA-CF requires much higher temperature and the CF reduces its viscosity, it is very easy to print weak parts due to low temperature settings (not to say humidity, which is obvious). I'd experiment printing at higher temperatures and test it's strength again. I used to print it at 260/270, but was only when I printed it 280+ that it started to show true strength. It's also interesting that in klipper, the pressure advance value has a wildly different behavior at higher temperatures, which really indicates how its viscosity can vary depending on the temperature, which can indicate it has not fully undergone glass transition and will affect layer adhesion. Both of which are crucial to print strong parts. By the way. Try annealing PLA. That is something really impressive. It becomes more temperature resistant than nylon and feels like is as strong as aluminium. Only problem is that it shrinks so, makes it tricky with precision assembly.

[@jamescullins2709]

Good test James, I would like to see a shrinkage comparison, I like things to fit. Keep it up my friend.

[@neildarlow]

This is interesting and poses the question "Does PLA have the higher tensile strength because it's a purer material?". By that I mean it has fewer modifiers and additives. You could further ask whether the additions to PA-CF are actually bonded well to the carrier material and are just "in suspension"? and not adding to tensile strength.

[@sodster68]

Great test and very pleasant format on the video! Thanks!! Also, this gives good hints for designing for strength without doing FEM-work or even basic strength calculations. You already mentioned layer lines in the right direction and we also see effects of holes here. Cheers!

[@chocolatemonk]

This is great. Would love to see more tests of different forces. . .also ASA for in Arizona outdoor prints melt with PLA / PLA +

[@shakdidagalimal]

Awesome job. In the breaking strength test most to all cracked right at the screw cap hole mounts, meaning how tight you had those on each piece would affect the results. In further tests the weakest spot that will break should not be the screw area nor the tied pull area, eliminating a good amount of variability.

[@martinathome296]

Thanks for a very interesting and usable test. I do wonder if the results are as much a test of your particular part design as they are of the different plastics. I would really have liked to see a test where parts did not fail at the point of attachment.

[@carlfriedrich5316]

I'm a PETG fan and have great results with new filament properly dialed in on temp settings. It looks like the way the layers came apart, that the filament may have been run a bit cold or with too much part cooling. Can you please list out the temps/settings you printed these at? A future follow up could be tweaking in the print settings and design to maximize each material. Maybe including nozzle size. The CF parts do look really nice, which for a lot of stuff would be sufficient reason to go that route.

[@Marcelomehlberg]

Hey there! Very good video! We have tested some materials and the main issue related to the performance were the parameters we have used…would you tell us on next video which parameters you have used? Tks!!!

[@timb1179]

Great video, my new favorite material is PC. It prints great for me and love the properties, it's extremely hard. I would love to see how it does in the tests.

[@richardward6747]

Do some of the other properties.. that was interesting and useful content!

[@GordLamb]

Great video as always. :) The way you installed that biner .. are you a climber by chance?

[@3d-obsession662]

I’d love to see more testing. Other kinds of testing is a very good idea. Look for the ASTM guides in the material data sheets for testing. Thanks.

[@jrychter7]

I'm so glad you made this video. Thank you! I've been printing various parts for a while now and, without doing any rigorous testing, I was under a strong impression that PLA is an under-appreciated material. I also suspected that mixing in carbon fibers doesn't really do much for the strength of the final part, but couldn't really confirm it. Now we know! I still like the *look* of PA-CF parts, though. It's funny how various myths take hold and persist - PETG vs PLA is another one. You will often hear from 3d printing afficionados "for strength, use PETG". This is nowhere as clear-cut! These days I use PLA for pretty much everything, except when I need those additional 8-10C of temperature resistance, then I'll go for PETG.

[@trentvlak]

From what I've seen, the carbon adds stiffness, not strength.

[@mattcarbaugh5576]

Would love to see some heat testing. Its pertinent to my application and probably the most significant factor.

[@ocAToccd]

One other interesting property I think is the residual deformation after unloading, and I think that the PETG did quite good there with about 0.001" against 0.005" for the other materials (without rewatching the video...)

[@NikolaosTsarmpopoulos]

Thanks for sharing. Would be nice if you also tested ASA.

[@fredtorres1703]

I love these tests.