AMA: Oct 31st | Owens Corning - XSTRAND™

[SandervG 1,521]

 Abrasive materials. 

It's a relatively new subject for most with the Ultimaker S5 and the (soon to be released) print core CC Red. Adding to that, Ultimaker is working close to various material manufacturers to include validated profiles from their materials into Ultimaker Cura as well.

So, as a user, you are can rely on the same reliability as when you use Ultimaker materials, but with possibly enhanced properties.

 

Some of these enhanced properties come from the additives that are being added to these materials. For example, XSTRAND™ is a Nylon material but it also has 30% glass fibers added to it which make it incredibly strong! 

 

Because of these new materials and their enhanced properties I've arranged for an AMA (Ask Me Anything) with 2 experts from Owens Corning who can tell you all about it. 

Adam Davis; additive engineer with a lot of experience with 3D printing (especially XSTRAND™)

Emmanuel Vaquant; senior innovation leader and knows all about the material properties of XSTRAND™

 

So do you have any questions about the fibers that are added to XSTRAND, other materials they have which might be useful for a project you are working on or how you can create the strongest 3D print possible, make sure to check in with us on October 31st at 4pm (CEST) / 10am (EDT)

 

If you already have any questions you want to ask, feel free to post them below! We'll start answering on October 31st ?

 

 

If you are not familiar with the concept, during an ‘AMA/Ask Me Anything’ someone steps forward for around an hour or so to answer any question you fire. Usually, this person has a specific level of expertise or story which is interesting to know more about. But don't let this limit your questions ?

 

 

[Brulti 177]

I'll start then! ?

 

- How many printers did you broke during your tests?

- Using the Mohs scale of hardness, what was the hardest material you were able to successfully print and what level of hardness was it?

- Which of your currently available material gave you the most troubles during the conception and testing phase?

- Do you think that 3D printing can one day become as easy and simple than the famous replicators seen on Star Trek?

[rajilpahuja 38]

I have used this material and its fantastic, needed to use the smartmaterials smartstick for PPGF30, PA sticks to the glue easy, and parts are very very strong, kinda u can use them direct, no need making protos and then production, u can print and use straight here, and not worry about a thing ?

[mastory 44]

My limited experience printing nylon has shown me the paramount importance of keeping nylon in a dry condition - to a greater extent than other materials.

 

Does Xstrand retain this requirement?  What are the storage requirements with xstrand to achieve reliable print results?  Is there a recommended procedure to keep opened filament dry?  A procedure to dry out material that has been compromised by environmental exposure?

 

Where are some pictures of some xstrand printed parts?

 

Is xstrand resistant to gasoline and/or mineral oils?

 

Recommended printing temperature and cooling settings?  Nozzle, bed and chamber temps?  Does a heated chamber help or hurt?

 

Thanks

Edited October 28, 2018 by mastory

[rajilpahuja 38]

56 minutes ago, mastory said:

My limited experience printing nylon has shown me the paramount importance of keeping nylon in a dry condition - to a greater extent than other materials.

 

Does Xstrand retain this requirement?  What are the storage requirements with xstrand to achieve reliable print results?  Is there a recommended procedure to keep opened filament dry?  A procedure to dry out material that has been compromised by environmental exposure?

 

Where are some pictures of some xstrand printed parts?

 

Is xstrand resistant to gasoline and/or mineral oils?

 

Recommended printing temperature and cooling settings?  Nozzle, bed and chamber temps?  Does a heated chamber help or hurt?

 

Thanks

They have two kinds nylon(PA6GF30) and PP(PPGF30) i have the settings for bed and nozzle will put them up and yes a warm chamber helps, and both have to be dried pre-printing, so maybe getting a print dry or your own DIY dry feeding helps, will put the part pictures here soon for everyone to see ?

[Abrasive 4]

What is the Izod impact strength of Xstrand and what is its specific gravity/density?

[SandervG 1,521]

Great questions guys! In just 2 days Adam and Emmanuel will join us and answer them! If you have any further questions, please add them below. Don't forget to join in on the discussion Wednesday 31st if you want to ask any followup questions or if any questions pop up spontaneously! 

[Nicolinux 288]

How does the addition of glass fibers increase strength (physically)?

[SandervG 1,521]

Just a reminder, in 4h the AMA will start with Owens Corning ?

[JohnInOttawa 104]

One question I have about this, and other new, exotic (my term) filaments centers on the high cost of trying it out.  The only way I can access most filaments here in Canada is to buy the smallest retail roll, which is too much for a trial and has a high risk of being wasted if I don't store it properly or it sits too long before I have a project big enough to consume the whole roll. 

 

This creates a bit of a vicious cycle - I won't quote on a job using filament I'm not sure will work for me, and I can't justify the cost of buying filament to try out unless I have work for the amount I plan to buy.

 

How about a half-retail size (or something like that) trial roll or coil so we can get used to the filament?

Thanks for arranging this AMA!

John

[Brulti 177]

Some shops, at least here in France, have begun to offer sample size quantity of filament. Though what I've seen is outrageously overpriced when compared to a normal roll.

[JohnInOttawa 104]

That's along the same lines as my concern - Getting an evaluation roll (glad to hear there is such a thing in the world) should not be a painful decision.  It doesn't have to hold enough filament to fill an S5 space after all - but enough to experiment with the aspects that can ruin a print - adhesion/warping, stringing, detail, edges, support interface, etc. Since each of us use our printers differently with different setups, my experience with the manufacturers' settings has varied from spot on to way off.  OK if it's a $40 roll of PLA.  Not great with a $100 roll of anything.

 

John

[rajilpahuja 38]

Thats their PPGF30 i printed the benchy as just a bench mark test, their Nylon is outstanding to, i will post the print settings soon, i would say buy this with confidence, these work, just use a good nozzle, i use Carbide ones, Rubies also work fine, however these materials are for proper engineering parts not really for decorative pieces or stuff, so if you have customers like ours who want really strong and resistant parts, these materials fit the bill ??

 

 

[valcrow 145]

Hi! Thanks for doing the AMA!

 

There's a lot of composit materials coming out on the market now with CF being the most popular for strength, what specific advantages does Glass fiber have over CF?

 

Thanks!

 

[AD_XSTRAND_OC 21]

On ‎10‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 7:36 AM, rajilpahuja said:

They have two kinds nylon(PA6GF30) and PP(PPGF30) i have the settings for bed and nozzle will put them up and yes a warm chamber helps, and both have to be dried pre-printing, so maybe getting a print dry or your own DIY dry feeding helps, will put the part pictures here soon for everyone to see ?

Only the PA6GF30 needs dried

[SandervG 1,521]

Hi everyone, welcome to this new Ask Me Anything where @AD_XSTRAND_OC and @EVQT_XSTRAND_OC are joining us on behalf of Owens Corning to answer any questions you have about their filaments. As you may know, their material will become available through Cura with its own configured printing profile and it has some unique properties. 

 

@AD_XSTRAND_OC is Adam Davis is from the US and an additive engineer with a lot of experience with 3D printing.

@EVQT_XSTRAND_OC is Emmanuel Vaquant, from France and senior innovation leader and knows all about the material properties.

 

We come bearing knowledge, so... Ask us anything!! 

 

Small domestic note, when I created the invitation we, European folks, were living in Summer-time. Recently we switched to Winter-time, which means we're 1 hour ahead. You might think after a couple of decades one individual might remember that .. ?  This means that anyone from the EDT timezone might join while this AMA is already an hour underway. I have asked Adam if he was willing to hang around, as long as any questions keep coming in. So keep them coming! ?

 

 

[AD_XSTRAND_OC 21]

On ‎10‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 8:45 AM, Brulti said:

I'll start then! ?

 

- How many printers did you broke during your tests?

- Using the Mohs scale of hardness, what was the hardest material you were able to successfully print and what level of hardness was it?

- Which of your currently available material gave you the most troubles during the conception and testing phase?

- Do you think that 3D printing can one day become as easy and simple than the famous replicators seen on Star Trek?

1- haha we don't break printers we use Ultimakers

2-Mohs scale is used for mineral material. For thermoplastics materials Shore D or Rockwell R scale is more relevant. PA6 or PP reinforced with 30% glass are in the range of 100 to 120 Rockwell R

3-GF30-PP was the most challenging product to develop. It gave us a hard time to find the right material both for filament manufacturing, printability while keeping excellent mechanical properties.

4-Yes but not in the next 20 years…good question hahah

[AD_XSTRAND_OC 21]

On ‎10‎/‎29‎/‎2018 at 10:34 AM, Abrasive said:

What is the Izod impact strength of Xstrand and what is its specific gravity/density?

Density for GF30-PA6 is 1.17g/cm², GF30-PP is 0.94g/m²

I only have the Charpy unnotched impact for GF30-PA6 for now which is 56KJ/m²

[EVQT_XSTRAND_OC 11]

On ‎10‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 11:38 AM, mastory said:

My limited experience printing nylon has shown me the paramount importance of keeping nylon in a dry condition - to a greater extent than other materials.

 

Does Xstrand retain this requirement?  What are the storage requirements with xstrand to achieve reliable print results?  Is there a recommended procedure to keep opened filament dry?  A procedure to dry out material that has been compromised by environmental exposure?

 

Where are some pictures of some xstrand printed parts?

 

Is xstrand resistant to gasoline and/or mineral oils?

 

Recommended printing temperature and cooling settings?  Nozzle, bed and chamber temps?  Does a heated chamber help or hurt?

 

Thanks

Only for PA6 Xstrand you will need to place the material into an oven at 80-90°C for a few hours. A good way to test if the moisture ha been removed from the material is to bend the filament with your hands. If the material bends rather than breaks then allow more time in the oven. Dried material will snap when you try to bend.

 

XSTRAND GF30-PP have a high resistance to cracking, acids, organic solvents. GF30-PA6 is chemically resistant to oils and fuels, gasoline, mineral spirits, and some alcohols.
 

Recommended print temperatures for the Ultimaker can be found in the Cura settings. If you are using a printer other than Ultimaker the general rule is to print the PA6 Xstrand close to the default nylon settings as a good start (230-260°C) and for PP Xstrand use the default settings close to ABS. A heated chamber does help out with extremely large parts.

 

[kmanstudios 1,120]

In short terms, what is the testing process to create such materials?

 

[AD_XSTRAND_OC 21]

1 hour ago, valcrow said:

Hi! Thanks for doing the AMA!

 

There's a lot of composit materials coming out on the market now with CF being the most popular for strength, what specific advantages does Glass fiber have over CF?

 

Thanks!

 

Glass fiber reinforced parts are non conductive, radiolucent, have better impact resistance than CF, glass load can goes up to 50% where CF is oftenly limited to 15%. So it is possible to have a better stiffness with GF than CF. This is true for Thermoplastic short fiber reinforcement, not true with continuous fiber.

[SandervG 1,521]

2 minutes ago, EVQT_XSTRAND_OC said:

Only for PA6 Xstrand you will need to place the material into an oven at 80-90°C for a few hours.

 

Alternatively, I understand you can also place the material for a similar amount of time on the buildplate of your Ultimaker in its/a box, to dry it, right? 

[AD_XSTRAND_OC 21]

1 minute ago, EVQT_XSTRAND_OC said:

Only for PA6 Xstrand you will need to place the material into an oven at 80-90°C for a few hours. A good way to test if the moisture ha been removed from the material is to bend the filament with your hands. If the material bends rather than breaks then allow more time in the oven. Dried material will snap when you try to bend.

 

XSTRAND GF30-PP have a high resistance to cracking, acids, organic solvents. GF30-PA6 is chemically resistant to oils and fuels, gasoline, mineral spirits, and some alcohols.
 

Recommended print temperatures for the Ultimaker can be found in the Cura settings. If you are using a printer other than Ultimaker the general rule is to print the PA6 Xstrand close to the default nylon settings as a good start (230-260°C) and for PP Xstrand use the default settings close to ABS. A heated chamber does help out with extremely large parts.

 

 

[EVQT_XSTRAND_OC 11]

Just now, EVQT_XSTRAND_OC said:

Only for PA6 Xstrand you will need to place the material into an oven at 80-90°C for a few hours. A good way to test if the moisture ha been removed from the material is to bend the filament with your hands. If the material bends rather than breaks then allow more time in the oven. Dried material will snap when you try to bend.

 

XSTRAND GF30-PP have a high resistance to cracking, acids, organic solvents. GF30-PA6 is chemically resistant to oils and fuels, gasoline, mineral spirits, and some alcohols.
 

Recommended print temperatures for the Ultimaker can be found in the Cura settings. If you are using a printer other than Ultimaker the general rule is to print the PA6 Xstrand close to the default nylon settings as a good start (230-260°C) and for PP Xstrand use the default settings close to ABS. A heated chamber does help out with extremely large parts.

 

 

[EVQT_XSTRAND_OC 11]

10 minutes ago, SandervG said:

 

Alternatively, I understand you can also place the material for a similar amount of time on the buildplate of your Ultimaker in its/a box, to dry it, right? 

Correct, you can lay the GF30-PA6 spool on your heated bed for a few hours before use