I’m curious if anyone here knows what the lower usable or in-service temperature limits are for the different materials that the SM2.0 can print.
I’m having no problems finding melting points, glass transition points, recommended extruder temps, and so on, for a wide variety of materials from a wide variety of manufacturers, but that’s not at all what I’m looking for.
Say I want to print something that has to remain both functional and durable at, idk, -40°C.
Yes, -40°C.
No, I’m not joking.
I’m not really at liberty to say what it is or what it’s for. It’s a static piece, with no moving parts, roughly 4" x 10" (~100mm x ~250mm), that will remain somewhere on planet Earth where it occasionally gets about that cold.
Does anybody know where to get that sort of info? Or know, off hand, what would be better for something like that? (e.g., TPU vs PETG vs ABS or whatever.) Is it even possible using the materials that the SM2.0 can print with? I know PLA is out. What about the others?
It sounds like you’re using CO2. This isn’t something that anyone here can answer for you. It would probably be easier to talk with different manufacturers about their products to determine if they have any products that meet your needs, and then experiment. I have a feeling that you’re going to run into layer adhesion issues with most materials.
So the finished piece is going to be outside in winter in Canada or Scandinavia (or something like that)? Your main enemy is going to be brittleness. Hmmm. Nylon, maybe, if you’re not too picky about slight expansion or contraction from changes in humidity level. ABS (or its close relative ASA) as a second choice, maybe? I’ve never heard of Lego getting brittle from cold.
You might be able to get some information about behaviour at low temperatures by asking a company that manufactures cast plastic (rods/sheets/piping) from the material in question, or sells them—they’ll know what conditions you should or shouldn’t use their products under.
Whatever it is, you’re probably going to want to overengineer it—heavy fill and/or thick walls—to make up for the conditions.
That’s funny you mention Lego. I did manage to find a datasheet that said Lego bricks are rated to -85°C.
Something very much like that.
0% humidity, year round.
My prototype (printed in PLA for convenience) fit fairly well, but not perfectly, so had to be mildly massaged into place with a hammer. It, of course, didn’t come out of it unscathed, but the damage was mostly negligible.
I think it was because I printed it vertically so as to avoid support structure (the remnants of which definitely would have interfered with fitment) and there was a little bit of sag or drooping somewhere along the line. Plus, I only did like a 20% infill just to keep the print time <24hrs.
I’m thinking I’ll just tweak my model a little bit and shop around for some pros that can do a semi-quick turnaround. Because, like CNC-Maker says
…and I just flat out don’t have time for all that. I was really hoping someone could tell me, “Oh, yeah, ABS is fine to -45C,” or something like that. I would have though, with its heavy usage in automotive, it would have to have a wide functional temp range. They have cars in Alaska, don’t they?
Anyway, thanks to both of you. You didn’t answer my question, but still managed to tell me what I needed to hear.