protoplant

Hey everyone, Sorry we are a bit late to the conversation, but we were just informed of this thread. Very interesting experiment, Gr5! Thank you for sharing your data. Just to be clear, we don't claim improved strength in using the CFPLA. In order not to clog the nozzles of printers, we use short fibers that we found to give a boost in stiffness, but not strength. Here is the link to the standard ASTM test methods we used to test stiffness: www.proto-pasta.com/testing-procedures Our test includes a solid part and standard method which may be more sensitive to the boost in stiffness. This measurement is rate and load dependent, so different conditions could show a different result. I wonder if the test results would be different for a solid (100% infill) bend specimen. In any case, aside from rigidity, our customers like to use CFPLA for its low shrink/warp for high dimensional stability parts, print characteristics, and aesthetic. User CodeMaven was 100% correct in that the more "stuff" you put into PLA, the weaker it becomes. So it's always a matter of balance... enough CF to make things interesting and produce some increase in rigidity, but not too much to make the material unusable. We are working within hardware limitations to create interesting and accessible materials, but at the end of the day, a majority of home printers can only handle very basic plastic composites at this point in time. All of our testing data is made public, and we have an extensive material FAQ on our website which addresses the benefits and limitations of each of our materials, including a discussion on rigidity vs strength. It is never our intention to mislead people, but the clarity of our message is something we continue to improve on. So, once again, thank you for sharing and for the discussion. Happy printing!