Basic types of 3D printing polymers and their material characteristics.
There are plenty of ways to carve up the landscape of 3D printing technology: by process, by application, even by history. However, in the context of additive manufacturing (AM), that is, 3D printing for production, breaking it down by materials is arguably the simplest and most practical approach. The coarsest level of categorization is between metals and polymers, but this article concentrates on the latter.
What follows is an alphabetical list of the 12 most common AM polymers and a selection of their typical material characteristics when 3D printed.
1) Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)
| Tensile Strength | Flexural Strength | Elongation at Break | Young’s Modulus | Heat Deflection Temperature (1.8MPa) |
| 30-48 MPa | 30-48 MPa | 10-50% | 1.8-3.2 GPa | 70-89˚C |
Patented in 1948, ABS is an amorphous thermoplastic. It’s widely used in a broad range of applications, including drain-waste-vent pipes, automotive trim components, and toys, including LEGO bricks. It’s 3D printed using fused filament fabrication (FFF), aka fused deposition modeling (FDM). Some material suppliers offer variations in the chemical formula to make it more suitable for applications requiring electrostatic discharge protection or fire resistance.
2) Acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA)
| Tensile Strength | Flexural Strength | Elongation at Break | Young’s Modulus | Heat Deflection Temperature (1.8MPa) |
| 35-50 MPa | 39-79 MPa | 25-40% | 1.4-2.6 GPa | 86-92˚C |
Also known as acrylic styrene acrylonitrile, ASA was developed as an alternative to ABS offering improved UV resistance. Initially developed in the 1960s, the formulation for ASA underwent subsequent refinements and chemical variations, including polycarbonate blends and the addition of silver for antimicrobial purposes. AM applications include tooling, such as jigs and fixtures, as well as prototyping for electrical enclosures, outdoor appliances, and sporting goods.
3) Nylon
| Tensile Strength | Flexural Strength | Elongation at Break | Young’s Modulus | Heat Deflection Temperature (1.8MPa) |
| 63-65 MPa | 63-83 MPa | 15-50% | 2.3-2.4 GPa | 60-87˚C |
The first commercially successful synthetic thermoplastic, nylon encompasses a family of synthetic polyamides invented at DuPont starting in 1927. Available in a variety of grades – such as PA6, PA11, and PA12 – nylon is used in a wide range of applications, including textiles, packaging, injection molding, and for metal coatings. In 3D printing, nylon is used in material extrusion processes (i.e., FFF and FDM) as well as selective laser sintering (SLS) and HP’s Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) technology. Its most common applications are prototypes and tooling, but some grades have been used for production components, particularly those incorporating glass or carbon fibers.
4) Polycarbonate (PC)
| Tensile Strength | Flexural Strength | Elongation at Break | Young’s Modulus | Heat Deflection Temperature (1.8MPa) |
| 28-75 MPa | 36-103 MPa | 60-150% | 2.0-2.4 GPa | 128-138˚C |
First discovered in 1898, it took more than half a century before polycarbonates were commercialized at Bayer and General Electric in 1952. These durable thermoplastics see extensive use in FFF/FDM 3D printing, though their relatively high melting point (with some formulations exceeding 300˚C) means that they are often beyond the capabilities of consumer-grade desktop 3D printers. In 3D printing, polycarbonate is most commonly used to produce functional prototypes, but it sees a much wider range of applications in conventional manufacturing, including electronic components, construction materials and – for optically transparent grades – lenses.
5) Polyether ether ketone (PEEK)
| Tensile Strength | Flexural Strength | Elongation at Break | Young’s Modulus | Heat Deflection Temperature (1.8MPa) |
| 90-100 MPa | 170-172 MPa | 40-50% | 3.5-4.1 GPa | 152-160˚C |
An organic thermoplastic in the polyaryletherketone (PAEK) family, PEEK was invented in 1978 and commercialized in the 1980s by Imperial Chemical Industries. Its high melting point (~343˚C) and semicrystalline structure put it out of reach of most consumer-grade 3D printers, but it has found applications in industrial-grade material extrusion AM. These qualities also make it well-suited to high-temperature applications, including piston parts and compressor valve plates. Additionally, PEEK is used for some 3D printed medical implants, such as maxillofacial bone plates.
6) Polyetherketoneketone (PEKK)
| Tensile Strength | Flexural Strength | Elongation at Break | Young’s Modulus | Heat Deflection Temperature (1.8MPa) |
| 70-86 MPa | 135-142 MPa | 2-9% | 2.9-3.8 GPa | 150-165˚C |
Another semi-crystalline thermoplastic in the PAEK family, PEKK was originally developed by DuPont in the 1960s for the Apollo program. While conventionally manufactured PEKK is one of the strongest thermoplastics, 3D printed PEKK parts tend to perform worse than their conventional counterparts as a direct result of the layer-based nature of additive processes – whether FFF/FDM or SLS – as well as the material’s crystallinity. Nevertheless, PEKK parts have been successfully 3D printed for biomedical implants and certain aerospace applications where they replace aluminum parts for lightweighting.
7) Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
| Tensile Strength | Flexural Strength | Elongation at Break | Young’s Modulus | Heat Deflection Temperature (1.8MPa) |
| 55-75 MPa | 80-83 MPa | 10-70% | 2.8-3.1 GPa | 72-80˚C |
The most abundant polyester material on the market, PET was patented in 1941 and first commercialized by DuPont in 1950. It’s seen a host of applications since then, first in textiles and subsequently in both rigid and flexible packaging. In 3D printing, filaments made from PET – as well as the related polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG) – have become highly popular among both hobbyists and professionals due to its combination of mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties, as well as its good flowability for FFF/FDM.
8) Polylactic Acid (PLA)
| Tensile Strength | Flexural Strength | Elongation at Break | Young’s Modulus | Heat Deflection Temperature (1.8MPa) |
| 36-48 MPa | 52-101 MPa | 2-8% | 3.1-3.3 GPa | 49-58˚C |
Probably the most popular polymer amongst 3D printing hobbyists, especially beginners, PLA has several properties that make it well suited to additive processes. These include its relatively low cost and low melting temperature (170-180˚C) compared to ABS, as well as the fact that it’s derived from renewable biomass, rather than petroleum. However, these benefits are offset by its fragility and susceptibility to degradation from UV radiation, humidity, and high temperatures, restricting its use primarily to prototyping and some limited packaging applications.
9) Polypropylene (PP)
| Tensile Strength | Flexural Strength | Elongation at Break | Young’s Modulus | Heat Deflection Temperature (1.8MPa) |
| 20-40 MPa | 9-23 MPa | 30-529% | 1.3-1.9 GPa | 52-64˚C |
A partially crystalline polyolefin, polypropylene was invented in the early 1950s and commercialized later that same decade by the Italian chemical company Montecatini. It’s one of the most widely used plastics as a result of its relatively low cost and ease of processing, much like polyethylene. In 3D printing, it’s processed via FFF/FDM, SLS, or MJF and typical applications include packaging, particularly items with living hinges due to its combination of durability and ductility.
10) Polysulfone (PSU)
| Tensile Strength | Flexural Strength | Elongation at Break | Young’s Modulus | Heat Deflection Temperature (1.8MPa) |
| 52-74 MPa | 87-106 MPa | 8-50% | 2.1-2.5 GPa | 172-175˚C |
A family of high-performance thermoplastics, polysulfones were first synthesized in the 1960s. With one of the highest service temperatures among meltable thermoplastics, it’s useful both as a flame retardant and, more specifically, in medical applications requiring sterilization via autoclave. In the context of 3D printing, this also means that PSU requires relatively high temperatures (360-370˚C) in material extrusion processes. However, there has been progress in processing PSU into free flowing powder, which would enable it to be 3D printed via SLS as well.
11) Thermoplastic elastomers (TPE)
| Tensile Strength | Flexural Strength | Elongation at Break | Young’s Modulus | Heat Deflection Temperature (1.8MPa) |
| 5-15 MPa | 5-25 MPa | 250-375% | 0.1-1.0 GPa | 50-60˚C |
Also known as thermoplastic rubbers (TPR), as their name implies, TPEs consist of materials with both thermoplastic and elastomeric properties. While TPEs are most often used in manufacturing via blow molding, injection molding, or thermoforming, their elastic properties also enable them to be 3D printed via material extrusion or SLS processes. In the former case, thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) is the most common TPE filament, with applications in medical devices and footwear, among others.
12) Polyetherimide (PEI)
| Tensile Strength | Flexural Strength | Elongation at Break | Young’s Modulus | Heat Deflection Temperature (1.8MPa) |
| 56-70 MPa | 100-110 MPa | 3-5% | 2.4-2.5 GPa | 170-178˚C |
More commonly known under its brand name, Ultem, PEI is an amorphous thermoplastic with similar characteristics to PEEK. First introduced by General Electric in 1982, PEI’s chemical stability and adhesive properties have made it a popular material for FFF/FDM 3D printers. It sees a wide range of applications, especially in the aerospace industry, including functional prototypes and composite layup tooling.
