Plastics

Plastics are one of the most widely used material groups in 3D printing and are characterized by their versatility, adaptability and wide range of applications. Due to their lightness and flexibility as well as their ability to take on almost any shape imaginable, plastics are essential for the production of prototypes, functional components and end products across various industries.

In additive manufacturing, there are numerous types of plastic, each characterized by individual properties and particularly suitable for certain applications. For example, some plastics are biodegradable and environmentally friendly, making them ideal for prototyping and decorative parts as they offer excellent surface quality and are easy to process. Other plastics offer greater strength and heat resistance and are well suited to functional components that need to withstand a certain amount of mechanical stress.

Some plastics are characterized by their chemical resistance and durability and offer a good balance between flexibility and strength. There are also plastics available that combine flexibility and resistance to abrasion and are particularly suitable for mechanical applications where resilience and durability are required. In addition, there are elastic plastics that are suitable for flexible applications and make parts that require mobility or damping interesting.

In addition to standard plastics, there are also high-performance plastics that are used in particularly demanding application scenarios, for example at very high temperatures or in aggressive chemical environments. The continuous development of plastics for 3D printing is opening up new applications and improved performance characteristics, which is increasing the range of possible applications and making the technology more widely accepted.