Production Grade Thermoplastics

What is Fused Deposition Modeling? 

Forge Labs offers a wide range of advanced thermoplastics identical to those used in traditional manufacturing processes, making it ideal for end-use parts, testing real-world material properties, or creating durable jigs, fixtures, and templates for production.  FDM offers 14 unique 3D printed materials making it one of the versatile technologies suitable for a number of specialized applications such as medical devices, electric static dissipative parts, or high temperature applications where Flame, Smoke Toxicity (FST) ratings are critical.

Choose FDM when you need strong, functional parts that are dimensionally stable. Parts produced on Stratasys Fortus machines offer the industry's best repeatability of any 3D printing technology and are ideal for manufacturing complex designs in a wide range of thermoplastics. Offering spacious build platform of 36 x 24 x 36 inches, FDM offers one of the commercially largest printing on the market.

ABS-M30

Strongest Additive ABS Thermoplastic 

ABS-M30™ by Stratasys is up to 70 percent stronger than standard ABS, providing significantly better layer bonding, impact resistance and flextural strength than standard level consumer grade ABS. ABS-M30 highly cost effective solution, ideal material for numerous applications including conceptual modeling, functional prototyping, manufacturing tools such as jigs and fixtures as well as end-use production parts.

PC-ABS

Strength, Heat Resistance & Flexibility 

Polycarbonate-ABS (PC-ABS) combines the desirable strength and heat resistant properties of PC with the flexibility & cost advantages of ABS. PC-ABS is one of the most widely used thermoplastics used in automotive, electronics and variety of other industrial manufacturing applications.

ABS - ESD7

Static Dissipative 

ABS thermoplastic with static dissipative properties (ABS-ESD7) is ideal for applications where a static charge can damage products, impair their performance or cause an explosion. ABS-ESD7 prevents static electricity build up so that it will not produce static shock while also preventing fine powders & dust from sticking. ABS-ESD7 is widely used in electronic manufacturing industries for creating jigs and fixtures, enclosures and packaging.

ASA

UV Stable ABS Thermoplastic 

ASA provides the same mechanical properties as ABS-M30 along with enhanced UV stability, making it ideal for outdoor applications. Combined with good impact resistance, toughness and aesthetics, ASA is one of the most broadly used thermoplastics, ideal for concept models, functional production parts such as jigs, fixtures, working prototypes and manufacturing tools.

Nylon 12

Tough Parts With Superior Elongation 

Ideal for creating durable end-use parts with high fatigue and chemical resistance. FDM Nylon 12 exhibits up to 300% better elongation and fatigue resistance than other FDM materials along with superior chemical compatibility for the most demanding applications such as repetitive enclosures, snap fits and vibration-resistant parts.

Polycarbonate

High Tensile Strength For Demanding Prototyping

Polycarbonate provides exceptionally high tensile and flexural strength, making it ideal for manufacturing strong parts, tooling and fixtures. FDM Polycarbonate is a widely used thermoplastic in automotive, aerospace, medical and a variety of other applications for applications where accuracy, durability and stability are critical.

ULTEM  9085

Highest Strength-to-Weight Ratio 

ULTEM 9085 by Sabic is a high performance polyetherimide thermoplastic offering excellent strength- to weight ratio and FST (flame, smoke, toxicity) ratings. Ideal for demanding applications, these properties make ULTEM 9085 a great choice for direct manufacturing of fully functional parts, prototypes and tooling with ultra fast lead times.

ULTEM  1010

Highest Tensile Strength, Heat & Chemical Resistance 

ULTEM 1010 is a high performance thermoplastic resin used to create fully functional parts ideal for aerospace & automotive manufacturing industries. ULTEM 1010 offers the highest heat resistance, chemical resistance and tensile strength of any additive thermoplastic.

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This design guidelines covers specific design parameters, which will need to be followed to prevent build failures from occurring. We have set the minimums allowed, specified by our engineers which will need to be followed, otherwise your parts may not meet the specific tolerances required or can cause the build to fail.

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is an additive manufacturing process by Stratasys that uses continuous filament of thermoplastic polymers. Layers are deposited by molten plastic on a previous layer of cooled plastic with a thickness between 125 - 330 microns with each layer until a solid three-dimensional structure has been built.  Depending on the slice height chosen, it can have an impact on the strength of the part. The thinner the slice height, the weaker the part tends to be.

Parts are built inside of a fully enclosed build chamber which offers significant improvements over desktop FFF 3D Printers. The nature of a fully enclosed build chamber means that shrinkage is precisely controlled to ensure very high part tolerances. The internal temperature of the print chamber is set just below the glass transition temperature of the filament being used. This ensures that warping never occurs during the print process, as well as significantly improves layer adhesion.

Our FDM machines have a maximum build volume of: 914 x 609 x 914 mm (36 x 24 x 36 inches). Varied layer resolution of 125 - 330 microns, depending on the settings specified. Standard layer height is 254 microns (0.010″) unless otherwise stated.

Optimizing your designs for Fused Deposition Modeling will help keep manufacturing costs down. Price is primarily based upon the amount of model & support material required to produce the part.  Increasing self supporting angles, reducing wall thickness as well as minimizing steep overhang will help ensure your parts are priced the most competitively in this technology. 

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