Tech Breakdown: DSM Materials

As 3D printing has developed into a viable manufacturing method, so too have the material offerings. In the beginnings of hobbyist 3D printing, weed wacker line was one of the most accessible 3D printing filaments, but today we have renowned manufacturing powerhouse DSM bringing their engineering-grade materials to the additive manufacturing world.

Let's break it down-

Company history

DSM was founded over a century ago, starting as the “Dutch State Mines” running coal mining operations in the Netherlands. Today they are a multinational, multi-billion dollar company with many divisions of research and development, one of which being DSM Materials. These filaments are made from the same materials commonly used to produce end-use parts, chosen for their resilience as engineering-grade polymers; none of their 3D printing filaments  should come as a surprise to any engineer. You can now create your prototypes in the same material as the finished product, and because these filaments come from a company with decades of material science, they have the Technical Data Sheets to back up each individual specification.

DSM Arnitel

DSM Arnitel is a Thermoplastic Copolymer (TPC) that can be found in products like performance athletic gear, shoe soles, mouth guards, and even this bouncy ball. It is an incredibly soft 3D printing material, and one of the softest we have ever seen at 86A shore hardness. It’s important to make the distinction that soft doesn’t mean flexible; a piece of wood can be dented easily, which means it’s soft, but you can’t bend it very far without breaking, which means it’s not flexible. So not only is Arnitel soft, but it can endure sustained heat of 190°C for 500 hours, continuously. All while being printable on the simplest of 3D printers out there; with a printing temperature between 220°C and 245°C and a bed temperature between 40°C and 60°C, the only constraint here is ensuring the filament path is tight enough that it can easily feed through to the nozzle without bunching up.

DSM Novamid

For 3D printed prototypes that need high strength and toughness, DSM Novamid is the right choice. It’s available in a few variations, each providing a different tensile modulus in the range of 2330MPa to 7570MPa, which is a measure of how much stress a given material can take before it starts to elongate) The variants also have different temperatures of deflection under load in a range between 51°C and 153°C depending on the filament chosen. And for ultimate stiffness, Novamid ID 1030 CF10 is infused with carbon fiber. The variants of Novamid have a printing temperature between 250°C and 275°C and a bed temperature between 100°C and 110°C, and you will want to make sure you are using a Garolite build surface for ideal bed adhesion.

DSM Arnite

DSM Arnite is one of the purest PET 3D printing filaments on the market. It offers a balanced profile of high stiffness and ductility, while still maintaining high dimensional stability and low warpage. Of DSM’s material offerings, Arnite is the easiest to post-process; whether you’re interested in sanding down a finished Arnite 3D print or painting it to create a representation closer to the final product, Arnite is the perfect material. Arnite also features a lower water absorption factor than other PET-based filaments, which means these spools will last longer between drying cycles. DSM Arnite achieves its best interlayer adhesion at a printing temperature between 275°C and 300°C and a bed temperature between 60°C and 120°C.

If you’re looking to start 3D printing your prototypes in the same material as your end-use parts, DSM 3D printing filaments are what you need. To learn more and to order yours today, check out the DSM collection here.

Happy printing!