NatureWorks announced a new, high speed PLA material grade, 3D300.
You may not have heard of Minnesota-based NatureWorks, but you almost certainly have used their products. They are in the business of developing biopolymers for industry. They have a specific focus on sustainability, providing polymers for fiber production, coatings, injection molding, films, thermoforming, and 3D printing.
For 3D printing they produce the raw PLA material that is used in many filaments you have used. Filament producers take pallets of resin pellets from NatureWorks, mix with a colorant and extruder the material into filament.
The news is that NatureWorks announced a new grade of biopolymer for 3D printing: 3D300. Here are the highlights of this material:
Designed for high speed 3D printing, up to 300mm/s
“Minimal stringing” and “impressive bridging length” at high speeds
Optimal transparency for easier coloring (by filament manufacturers)
Free from additives, pure material (but filament producers may combine with their own additives)
NatureWorks also provides several other grades of PLA for large format 3D printing, high temperature applications and increased impact strength. You might recognize some of these properties from filament producers, who make use of these materials for their specialty products.
The implication of this announcement is that a number of filament brands will suddenly have “high speed” filament products, if they make use of the new 3D300 grade biopolymer.
High speed 3D printer filament has been an issue for a while now, for two reasons.
The first reason is that with the widespread introduction of high speed equipment, poor quality filament is being exposed. These products might have worked at slower speeds, but fail when pushed to higher extrusion rates. The new 3D300 grade should bump up the filament quality for many filament providers.
The second reason is a bit more subtle. Due to the first problem, some filament producers have advertised their products as “high speed”, but there is no official standard for this. Basically anyone can call their filaments “high speed”, but some really are not. Even worse, some filaments that are indeed high speed capable are not labeled as “high speed”.
With 3D300 grade available, it may be possible for filament producers to put “Made with 3D300” labeling on their products to provide buyers with at least some assurance that the filament is indeed “high speed”.
For NatureWorks this is a very good move. The number of “slow” FFF desktop 3D printers on the market is rapidly decreasing, and very soon we will see only high speed 3D printers for sale. When that is the case there will be no need for “slow” filament, as almost everyone will require higher speed materials. NatureWorks certainly recognizes this trend and has taken a step into that future world.
Via NatureWorks
