Are consumer level 3D printers able to print plastic objects of similar quality to ones produced using injection molding? Or is 3D printing useful mostly for the prototyping stage before a design is finalized and a steel mold is produced for injection molding?
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It depends on how you define quality.
- If you define it by general shape and tolerances, 3d printing can(!) achieve a comparable quality.
- if you define it by it’s surface finish, SLA prints can but it’s nearly impossible with FDM (at least currently).
- and if you define it, by its tensile strength or mechanical properties injection molded pieces wil probably always have an edge over 3d prints because of their anisotropic behaviour (meaning the piece can endure forces differently depending on the direction)
And of course as already mentioned injection molding is a much better fit for mass production.
I agree with all your points, except the last one. Admittedly, it is still rare, but there are companies out there that, using industrial machines, manage to get close to or (in case of the linked one) exceed injection moulding in tensile strength, and are achieving near isotropy using FDM processes. https://orion-am.com/blog/orion-am-news-1/3d-printing-peek-stronger-than-injection-molding-12
Disclaimer: I work there. However, this article has independent test data that has been verified by 3 different labs by now.
I guess there’s always something new to learn. But while it’s tested with PEEK (and other high performance thermosplastics) I am curios if it works with more customer-grade materials like PET(G), ASA, PLA or PS, since those have a far lower melting range compared to PEEK. Also most users are probably not willing to pay the price of PEEK or other high performance materials. Nevertheless its a really interesting method i wasn’t aware of yet, maybe it will become the new standard for industrial FDM in a few years. Thanks for sharing!
nearly impossible with FDM
I’m not in the space, but what’s your opinion of acetone vapor treatments to get a bit higher polish for fdm?
I haven’t tried it myself yet but from the results I’ve seen online it seems like a good way to decrease roughness. But you still you have to print with a low layer height since larger layers result in deeper crevices which can’t be mitigated by the vapor. And its nothing I would try without proper safety measures. Of course you can also sand and polish your surfaces by hand but especially larger surfaces get really tedious really quick :D