1. Got a question or need help troubleshooting? Post to the troubleshooting forum or Search the forums!

Weight savings from Carbon Fiber PLA

Discussion in 'Printing Filament' started by Red Submarine, Dec 7, 2014.

  1. Red Submarine

    Red Submarine Active Member

    Joined:
    Mar 12, 2014
    Messages:
    130
    Likes Received:
    39
    I just thought I'd share my findings on this as I'm sure others are interested.

    I printed a hollow object about the size of my pinky finger in regular PLA to make sure it would print well before I printed it in 4x as expensive Proto Pasta CF PLA. They both printed fine and then I had two small, identical pieces to weigh against each other.

    PLA part: 5 grams
    Carbon Fiber PLA part: 4 grams

    Granted, at this small size my scale does not have a great resolution, so there is probably a decent margin of error, but for now I'll say that the CF PLA does offer weight savings and that they are + or - 20%.

    Hope this helps someone on here.
     
    #1 Red Submarine, Dec 7, 2014
    2 people like this.
  2. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2013
    Messages:
    1,605
    Likes Received:
    1,003
    I think it might be your scale :)
    The amount of fill in this material is relatively low on a per volume basis. Lower density isn't one of the benefits of CFPLA, but I can see how people get that impression. In typical applications, carbon fiber laminates are replacing metal parts. They are strong due to the layup of the fiber and lightweight compared to the metal.
    In filament form, the main advantage is that it increases the stiffness of whatever it is filled into. With PLA, you get about 50% stiffness increase over unfilled PLA. Here's a link to the datasheet. http://static.squarespace.com/stati...5e4b0995b686df15d/1411581605968/MSD_CFPLA.pdf
     
    #2 Printed Solid, Dec 25, 2014
  3. Red Submarine

    Red Submarine Active Member

    Joined:
    Mar 12, 2014
    Messages:
    130
    Likes Received:
    39
    I see.

    I would think that Carbon Fiber is lighter than PLA though, and if the Protoplant product is at least 15% chopped strand CF, then it stands to have some weight loss, albeit minimal. If I ever print some larger parts in CF I'll post back a comparison.
     
    #3 Red Submarine, Dec 31, 2014
  4. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2013
    Messages:
    23,912
    Likes Received:
    7,338
    Well, you testing did produce a minimal difference :)

    I personally have not printed anything of enough size with it to notice (or really check for) a weight decrease.
    That said it IS stiffer than POPLA (plain ol' PLA).
     
    #4 mark tomlinson, Dec 31, 2014

Share This Page