Extensive 3D Printing Materials Guide Helps You Choose the Best Filament and Optimize Your Results

Simplify3D, a global leader in commercial 3D printing software, releases new resources focused on 3D printing materials.  Learn what filaments to select for your next project as well as expert tips to achieve the best results on your 3D printer.

The last few years have seen an explosion of new materials for 3D printing applications. Each material has its own strengths and weaknesses, so choosing the right one can be a daunting task. After more than a year of research and development, Simplify3D has published an extensive 3D Printing Materials Guide that explores all of the popular filaments in use today, providing expert tips to improve your results with each material. In addition to in-depth articles on more than a dozen different filament types, the Guide also includes a detailed Properties Table for comparing the physical and mechanical properties of one material against another.

This Guide is the latest educational resource from Simplify3D, the same company that published the highly referenced Print Quality Troubleshooting Guide, which addresses common printing defects and their solutions. “We know that 3D printing involves a balance of hardware, software, and materials”, said Simplify3D CEO, Clayton Webster. “We have addressed the hardware challenges by partnering with manufacturers all over the world so that Simplify3D can support over 400 different 3D printers, but we also want to provide resources to help our customers succeed with the wide array of new materials that are available. We are constantly testing the latest printers and filaments to make sure our software is optimized for each scenario, so we are excited to share our findings with the community”.

The Materials Guide starts with a grid of images, showcasing actual prints that were created with each material. You can use tags to quickly filter the images based on specific applications or needs. After selecting a material from the grid, you can view an in-depth article containing pros and cons, hardware requirements, best practices, troubleshooting solutions, and pro tips for advanced users. Each article also includes a helpful “Get Started” section with sample models to provide inspiration for your first print.

Along with this Guide, Simplify3D has published a robust Filament Properties Table that compiles 25 different properties and characteristics for each material. The Table includes detailed metrics such as strength, stiffness, density, and other mechanical properties that could be useful when designing your next part. A built-in comparison tool can be used to select specific materials for side-by-side comparison. Having all of this information in one place greatly simplifies the challenge of selecting the best material for a specific application.

With so many different material options on the market today, this guide promises to be another valuable resource for new and experienced users alike. The 3D Printing Materials Guide and Filament Properties Table are both available today on the Simplify3D website.