ABS inter-layer adhesion

[CarlGregg 1]

Hi,

 

I have previously used Stratasys ABS material with great success on there machines but have, until recently, not attempted to use ABS on Ultimakers. I now have a project where the client has request ABS as the material and have ran some samples parts in UM ABS on our S5 Pro Bundle. The parts look fantastic however, the inter-layer adhesion is terrible. Any force in the z-direction and the part will cleave quite cleanly along a layer. Parts printed so far have been with a variety of the UM recommended profiles from Cura and have also tried to increase the printing temperature. Nothing appears to make a difference.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Carl

[TimonR 21]

Hi @CarlGregg,

 

Unfortunately your observations is also what we've seen internally. For ABS to have proper layer adhesion, it simply helps to have a heated chamber around 80-90C to relieve stresses during printing.

 

To give you some data:

Tensile strength in XY (ASTM D3039) = 38 MPa

Tensile strength in Z   (ASTM D3039) = 19 MPa  

So basically we have half of the tensile strength in the Z direction, using an AA0.4 printcore with 0.15 layer height and engineering profiles using Ultimaker ABS.

 

Another option could be to look into the requirements from your customers and find a different material (if that's acceptable). For example, Tough PLA has exceptional Z strength of 33 MPa (if that's of importance to you). If thermal resistance of 75C is needed, PETG or CPE could be another good option.

 

Hope this helps

[CarlGregg 1]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the info. I will up the heated chamber temp as recommended. I increased the printing temp to 270 and this has massively improved adhesion. 

 

I looked through the material TDS and was going to suggest Tough PLA to the client.

 

Thanks,

 

Carl