Engineering Challenge Video: Will It Tumble?
In our latest challenge, Greg Paulsen, Director of Application Engineering, tests fourteen 3D printed materials made using six industrial additive processes. The parts endure continuous small drops in a cement mixer to gauge their durability. These samples were designed with thin walls, overhangs, ribs, lattices, and more to see which features would meet their match. Which ones do you think will survive?
Watch now to find out.
What Else You Need to Know About the Test
- Each 3D printed part is a half-sphere measuring 4” diameter
- Full spheres were assembled from two halves, which allowed even exposure of features during the test
- All the parts contained the same feature sets
- Fourteen materials and six processes were used—see the table below.
- Once a half-sphere was highly damaged, it was removed from the test and the remaining sphere was combined with another low-to-medium damage part
| 3D Printing Process | Material |
|---|---|
| 3D Printing Process Stratasys Fortus FDM | Material ABS-M30 |
| 3D Printing Process Stratasys Fortus FDM | Material PC (polycarbonate) |
| 3D Printing Process Stratasys Fortus FDM | Material ULTEM 9085 |
| 3D Printing Process Carbon Digital Light Synthesis (DLS)™ | Material EPX 82 (epoxy) |
| 3D Printing Process Carbon Digital Light Synthesis (DLS)™ | Material RPU 70 (rigid polyurethane) |
| 3D Printing Process Stratasys PolyJet | Material VeroBlackPlus |
| 3D Printing Process Stereolithography (SLA) | Material Accura Xtreme Gray |
| 3D Printing Process Stereolithography (SLA) | Material Accura ClearVue |
| 3D Printing Process Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) | Material Nylon 12 |
| 3D Printing Process HP Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) | Material Nylon 11 |
| 3D Printing Process HP Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) | Material Nylon 12 |
| 3D Printing Process HP Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) | Material Nylon 12 GB |
| 3D Printing Process HP Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) | Material PP (polypropylene) |
| 3D Printing Process HP Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) | Material Nylon 12 with vapor polishing |
Want your idea to be turned into our next engineering challenge? Submit a request now!
For more content on custom manufacturing from Xometry, check out our recent blog posts.
