Project Material Advice

[Deeps 0]

I'm trying to make a short run of functional prototypes. They won't need to take much weight but will be outside in both warm and cold climates. Also will be near salt water with occasional water exposure and a significant amount of UV exposure:

I'm looking for advice on a good material to use. The print needs PVA support as well so needs to be PVA compatible. 

 

Nylon seems to be out because of moisture absorption. 

ASA seems to be the most UV resistant but there's no ASA from Ultimaker or literature on printing ASA on my S5. Could it be done? Would I need a ruby 0.6 composite print core? 

ABS is out because it seems from what I read I doesn't do so well under UV exposure and it's not PVA compatible. 

 

I'm thinking either tough PLA or CPE would be reasonable I don't think I need CPE+. 

I've really not messed around with PC or PP. 

 

It's not an impact part, really more of a hook that would hold a wet rope/line. 

 

Any advice from the community would be much appreciated. 

DR

[Smithy 378]

When it comes to UV resistance then ASA would be the material of choice. You can print it with the ABS profile with your S5 without problems. Depending on the brand of ASA, you should adjust the print temperature if needed. You can use every ASA brand you want, it is very similar to ABS. And that's the drawback of ASA, I am not sure if it is compatible with PVA supports - I don't think so. For ASA you would have to use HIPS as a support material.

 

You don't need the ruby 0.6 print core, only if you print with abrasive materials.

 

You could give CPE a try, it has a higher glass temperature than PLA (and ToughPLA). UV resistance is not so good, but that doesn't mean it will not work. Maybe the color will not be stable with time and white gets yellow due to the UV light, but the part itself should be still stable.

[Deeps 0]

Thanks Smithy,

That’s super helpful. I’ll give the CPE a try and if it doesn’t work out I’ll switch it up to ASA. 

 

 

 

[geert_2 348]

What about PET? This prints reasonably easy, although I don't know about compatibility with support material?

 

Anyway, wasted PET bottles seem to survive very well in the ocean, without much degradation.

 

[Deeps 0]

Isn’t CPE pretty similar to PET/G? 

I was under the impression that they’re both Copolyesters and Ultimakers PET is just named CPE.

 

[Smithy 378]

1 minute ago, Deeps said:

Isn’t CPE pretty similar to PET/G? 

I was under the impression that they’re both Copolyesters and Ultimakers PET is just named CPE.

 

Every PETG is a little bit different, but basically, you are right.