3D Printing 3D Prints and Hot Cars in the Summer.

[cwbullet]

Ok, I work in Georgia, and we all know that Georgia is Hot and Hotter in the summer. I have a few days to plan this out. I want to fully test different filaments and the heat tolerance. I am going to print test prints out of various filaments and see how well they handle the temperatures in a 90+ day.

What filaments do you want to see?

 

[BDB]

PLA vs PLA+

 

[OzHybrid]

Ok, I work in Georgia, and we all know that Georgia is Hot and Hotter in the summer. I have a few days to plan this out. I want to fully test different filaments and the heat tolerance. I am going to print test prints out of various filaments and see how well they handle the temperatures in a 90+ day.

What filaments do you want to see?

Stop wasting time. Just print in ABS.. A 90 degF day is for children. Try 45 deg C air temp, 90 deg C car internal temp. Really should park in the shade.

 

[bcook7135]

Ok, I work in Georgia, and we all know that Georgia is Hot and Hotter in the summer. I have a few days to plan this out. I want to fully test different filaments and the heat tolerance. I am going to print test prints out of various filaments and see how well they handle the temperatures in a 90+ day.

What filaments do you want to see?

I would like to see PLA. I have a nose cone painted yellow that I hope will survive in my truck’s aluminum tool box.

 

[OzHybrid]

I would like to see PLA. I have a nose cone painted yellow that I hope will survive in my truck’s aluminum tool box.

PLA in a hot car will distort. PLA+ is nearly as good as ABS. Don't leave PLA in a hot car.

 

[RCBrust]

PLA in a hot car will distort. PLA+ is nearly as good as ABS. Don't leave PLA in a hot car.

What PLA+ have you found that is nearly as good as ABS? My guess is that you're looking at annealed PLA specs. The problem with annealing is that it shrinks and distorts the print which is tough to compensate for with mechanical parts.

Randy

 

[RCBrust]

I have one data point for you guys. I printed a nose cone out of light gray Polymaker PLA Pro and set it out in the sun on a day in the low 80s. I checked it 15 minutes later and it was already getting soft. Since that test, I've been working on my ABS printing skills. I would love to be able to use PLA for rocket parts but in my experience, they won't hold up to summer temperatures.

I can print ABS pretty well at this point but you can definitely get away with more printing techniques with PLA, i.e. steep angles, overhangs, bridging, etc. An example are the threads on the nose cone/coupler shown below. The threads print great in PLA at standard 0.2mm layer height but when using ABS, I need to use adjustable layer height (~0.12mm where the threads are) to get decent threads. I've heard that Polymaker is working on a higher temp PLA. I hope that's the case. Even a 10C or 20C improvement would help for our application.

Randy

 

[neil_w]

ABS and PETG

 

[BDB]

I should also mention that I really like printing with CF-infused nylon. That’s what I tend to use for all of my structural and temp-sensitive parts. I’ve tried and tried to get ABS and PETG dialed in, but found that nylon was easier to print (assuming you have an enclosure).

 

[cwbullet]

So Far:

1. ABS
2. PETG
3. PLA
4. PLA+
5. LW-PLA-HT
6. Polycarbonate Blend
7. PETG with CF
8. PLA Pro

 

[cwbullet]

So Far:

1. ABS
2. PETG
3. PLA
4. PLA+
5. LW-PLA-HT
6. Polycarbonate Blend
7. PETG with CF
8. PLA Pro
9. Nylon CF

Added nylon - CF

 

[cwbullet]

I am going to print:

https://www.printables.com/model/174110-hypercube-tesseract

 

[cwbullet]

I will also put a thermometer in my car and measure the temperature.

Last week I measured the temp, and it did reach 150F in my car, and all of the PLAs began to droop. I may also set up a camera to record time-lapse. That last one is a huge maybe.

 

[BDB]

I love everything about this! Science!

(P.S. Tell me if you need help printing the CF-Nylon. I'm upgrading the firmware on my Ender 5 tonight. Assuming that goes well, I can print the tesseract-thing this weekend.)

 

[RCBrust]

As a supplement to Chuck's experiments, this guy does a lot of temperature testing of various filaments on is YT channel.

Randy

 

[thzero]

Nylon-CF (is this PA6 or PA12) would be my best bet, not familiar with PC blends.

 

[cwbullet]

Should I print a hollow nose cone as my test print? It would be more in line with what we print.

 

[rharshberger]

Should I print a hollow nose cone as my test print? It would be more in line with what we print.

Yes, many nosecones are hollow since people like to put trackers in them.

 

[bcook7135]

Should I print a hollow nose cone as my test print? It would be more in line with what we print.

Would a hollow PLA nose cone filled with Great Stuff be suspect to warping in the summer heat?

 

[cwbullet]

Would a hollow PLA nose cone filled with Great Stuff be suspect to warping in the summer heat?

Yes, but less so.

 

[John Kemker]

I love everything about this! Science!

(P.S. Tell me if you need help printing the CF-Nylon. I'm upgrading the firmware on my Ender 5 tonight. Assuming that goes well, I can print the tesseract-thing this weekend.)

 

[cwbullet]

I am printing two files:

A nose cone and a cylindar in vase mode.

 

[Bravo52]

Stop wasting time. Just print in ABS.. A 90 degF day is for children. Try 45 deg C air temp, 90 deg C car internal temp. Really should park in the shade.

Wait, what is "45C"? Is that like a temperature or something? Isn't 45 like half as hot as 90?

It would be nice to see how some of the more exotic filaments work out like the carbon infused.

 

[cwbullet]

Stop wasting time. Just print in ABS.. A 90 degF day is for children. Try 45 deg C air temp, 90 deg C car internal temp. Really should park in the shade.

Not much shade on an open field like a sod farm. 90F is an average summer day in July or August. We often get as high as 105 is South Carolina and higher in Georgia.

You are sort of right, though, it would get hot enough in Kuwait and Iraq to cook an egg on metal surface exposed to the sun.

 

[asm109]

Just sort the resins by their Heat Deflection Temperature (HDT)

 

[OzHybrid]

Not much shade on an open field like a sod farm. 90F is an average summer day in July or August. We often get as high as 105 is South Carolina and higher in Georgia.

You are sort of right, though, it would get hot enough in Kuwait and Iraq to cook an egg on metal surface exposed to the sun.

If only I had a porta potty I could test on the dash board...

 

[cwbullet]

I have started printing them. It will take a week, but the good news is the weather is slightly limiting (too cool to cook the prints).

 

[OzHybrid]

I have started printing them. It will take a week, but the good news is the weather is slightly limiting (too cool to cook the prints).

I love you. And I don't love a lot of people....

 

[cwbullet]

Ok, I am done printing my parts and will begin the heat testing today. I took length and widths of each part. The width was at its widest part.

Today I will post photos of the ones that deformed.

Here is a starting photo of the PLA+.



I pruposely chose them because two are in vase mode and would gain the effects sooner. The last one is a true fucntional model.

 

[thzero]

Ok, I am done printing my parts and will begin the heat testing today. I took length and widths of each part. The width was at its widest part.

Today I will post photos of the ones that deformed.

Here is a starting photo of the PLA+.


I pruposely chose them because two are in vase mode and would gain the effects sooner. The last one is a true fucntional model.

I suspect it'll melt. I know it does with ejection gases, and warps with Estes rocket motor.