PLA - Material Guide | Craftcloud®
Material
PLA
PLA is a low-cost, rigid plastic with excellent dimensional accuracy, and is a good choice for prototypes and functional parts that do not require strength or heat resistance.
Manufacturing processes
FDM
About
PLA (polylactic acid) is a thermoplastic derived from renewable resources like corn starch, which sets it apart from most other common 3D printing plastics, which are petroleum-based.
It is notably rigid, with tensile strength that holds up well under static loads and excellent dimensional accuracy, but it's also brittle. It tends to crack or snap rather than bend under sudden stress or impact, and it softens once temperatures climb past roughly 50-60 °C.
PLA is a good choice for prototypes, display models, and low-stress mechanical parts like jigs or fixtures.
Technical Details
- Accuracy: ±0.3% (lower limit of ±0.2 mm)
- Density: 1.24 g/cm³
- Min. wall thickness: 1 mm
Technical Properties
- Download datasheet
- Tensile strength: 26.8 - 70 MPa
- Tensile modulus: 1817 - 3973 MPa
- Tensile elongation: 1.9 - 20%
- Flexural strength: 46.2 - 88 MPa
- Flexural modulus: 2461 - 3800 MPa
- HDT (0.45 MPa): 50 - 55°C
- Default layer height: 0.2 mm
- Default infill: 20%
- Embossing: min. 0.6 mm
- Engraving: min. 0.6 mm
- Interlocking parts: Yes
- Warping risk: Yes, for parts over 140mm or parts with thin long structures
- Maximum printing dimensions: 1,000 × 1,000 × 1,600 mm
Finishes
- Standard
- Sanded
Properties
- Visual
Colors
- White
- Black
- Surprise Me!
- Gray
- Green
- Blue
- Red
- Orange
- Yellow
- Glow-in-the-Dark Green
- Pink
- Purple
- Mint
- Ivory
- Gold
- Silver
- Brown
- Translucent Red
- Translucent Blue
- Translucent Green
- Lime Green
- Sky Blue
- Bronze
- Translucent
- Teal
- Copper
- Natural
- Warm Beige
- Magenta
- Dark Blue
- Dark Olive Green
- Dark Purple
- Translucent Yellow
- Glow-in-the-Dark Blue
- Glow-in-the-Dark Red
- Translucent Orange
- Light Blue
- Black with Silver Sparkle
- Cyan
- Light Green
- Lavender
- Marble
- Neon Pink
- Translucent Purple
- Dark Gray
- Gray Metallic
- Anthracite
- Wheat
- Neon Yellow
- Yellow Green
- Purple Metallic
- Red Metallic
- Violet
- Dark Red
- Lilac
- Blue Metallic
- Dark Green
- Neon Blue
- Silk Black
- Silk Red
- Tan
- Light Gray
- Dark Purple Sparkle
- Dark Blue Sparkle
- Translucent Brown
- Turquoise
- Glow-in-the-Dark Yellow
- Blue Sparkle
- Red Sparkle
- Silk Blue
- Green Sparkle
- Gold Sparkle
- Translucent Violet
- Silver Sparkle
- Light Blue Sparkle
- Dark Brown
- Forest Green
- Fluorescent Blue
- Fluorescent Green
- Fluorescent Red
- Fluorescent Yellow
- Fluorescent Orange
- Silk Gray
- Silk White
- Silk Copper
- Silk Gold
- Coral
- Silk Silver
- Silk Green
- Silk Light Blue
- Neon Orange
- Neon Green
- White Aluminum
- Translucent Sparkle
- Metallic Aluminum
- Metallic Black
- Translucent Pink
- Peach
- Anthracite Metallic
- Ochre Metallic
- Pink with Silver Sparkle
- Brass
- Steel Blue
- Copper Metallic
- Translucent Sea Green
- Sea Green
- Fuchsia
- Rose Gold
- Translucent Dark Green
- Honey
- Terracotta
- Ochre
- Cobalt Blue
- Sage Green
- Teal Metallic
- Black with Multicolor Sparkle
- Rainbow Multicolor
- Colormixed Blue/White
- Dual Color Blue/Red
- Colormixed Red/Orange
- Dual Color Black/White
- Army Green
- Indigo Blue
- Brick Red
- Translucent Navy Blue
- Black with Gold Sparkle
- Tri-Color Green/Blue/Purple
- Beige
- Pastel Aqua
- Aquamarine
- Silk Yellow
- Silk Orange
- Silk Pink
- Silk Purple
- Army Brown
- Cold White
- Sand
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