Pushing The Boundaries Of What’s Possible For Printable Materials
Fusion3 - 3D Printers
Manufacturer of affordable, high-performance 3D printers for business and education.
Across a wide range of materials, Bambu Lab filaments demonstrate reduced resistance to mechanical load at elevated temperatures. This limitation makes them less suitable for real-world applications due to their lower temperature performance. If you plan to use your 3D printer’s output in practical scenarios, it’s important to consider these restrictions when making your purchasing decision.
Putting Filaments to The Test
Our team held an experiment that simulated a printed part under a light load to mimic prolonged exposure to high temperatures like those found inside a car cabin or in a hot, outdoor environment. To explore material differences, we:
1. Printed dogbone samples from various materials. Each sample measured 4mm high x 6mm wide x 100mm long, including radii at the ends.
2. Placed the samples in an industrial oven similar to the Quincy Lab Model 40 with a 13-gram weight in the center and supported at both ends.
3. Gradually increased the oven temperature, holding for 30 minutes every 3-5 degrees.
4. Stopped the test when we observed over 5mm of sag in the sample.
Our Findings
Our results clearly show that modifiers used to enhance material printability have significant, negative impacts on temperature performance.
Bambu ABS failed 8oC earlier than Atomic’s ABS
Bambu ASA failed 4oC earlier than Push Plastic’s ASA
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Bambu PC failed over 31oC earlier than Ultimachine PC
Our Competitors Can’t Print Without Modifiers
Despite the manufacturer’s claims, materials lacking special modifiers printed poorly—or not at all—in Bambu Lab printers.
Case Study 1: Atomic ABS Electronics Housing
We printed an electronics housing on the Bambu Lab X1C with the same material we use on Fusion3 3D printers.
Specifications:
The thin-walled part exhibited so much shrinkage that it caused the build plate to detach from the magnetic base. The part remained adhered to the print surface but was so warped after removal that it became unusable. Plus, weak layer bonding made the part extremely fragile.
Case Study 2: Attempt to Print Ultimachine PC
As part of our tensile and thermal testing, we attempted to print Ultimachine PC on the X1C to create a set of tensile test pucks.
Specifications:
The printer failed to complete the first layer of the print. The material either didn’t extrude from the nozzle or extruded briefly before stopping. Our team attempted the process two more times with the same outcome. Ultimately, the print head had to be replaced as it never printed PLA correctly again.
Published Data Doesn’t Tell the Full Story
In an ideal world, standardized testing such as Heat Deflection Testing (HTD) would tell users everything they need to know about their preferred materials. The reality, however, is that manufacturers can optimize materials for these tests to produce misleadingly favorable results.
The table below compares the specified HTD temperature with the temperature at which deformation was first observed during our test: