Forge Labs offers a number of  end-use industrial resins, thermoplastics and metals that are most commonly used in industrial additive manufacturing and 3D Printing. This guide is designed to assist you to select the best material for your next project or improve the quality of your prints with advice from our experts.

There are 3 primary types of materials used in Industrial 3D Printing across 6 unique technologies:

Thermoplastics

Thermoplastics are the most commonly used plastics, capable of going through multiple cycles of melting and reformation into a solid structure. This makes the material popular for high throughput, industrial 3D Printing technologies such as Selective Laser Sintering,  Multi-Jet Fusion & Fused Deposition Modeling. Parts built using these technologies can be either extruded or selectively sintered into a solid structure. The process is also reversible allowing plastic parts to be melted down and recycled. Parts tend to be highly durable and suitable for end-use applications in demanding environments.

Thermosetting Liquid Resin

Thermosetting resins are used in 3D Printing technologies such as Stereolithography, PolyJet Matrix and Digital Light Processing. Parts are formed using a curing process such as UV light to solidify layers and achieve ultra-crisp fine details with injection molded-like surface finishes. Unlike thermoplastics, these resins decompose when heated rather than melt and cannot return back to its original form. They also tend to be less functional and more brittle than thermoplastics.

Metals

Metals are produced using industrial a industrial laser melting process known as Direct Metal Laser Sintering. Parts are formed using a high-powered laser to fuse fine particles of alloy together to form a solid structure. These metal parts share are isotropic and possess similar mechanical properties to machined parts and are well suited for demanding, end-use applications including automotive and aerospace industries.

Use the table below to to sort materials based on their mechanical properties & characteristics. Once you have selected a material, click for more details, data sheets & application information. If you need help selecting a material, please don't hesitate to contact us!