{"id":74901,"date":"2025-01-06T16:34:12","date_gmt":"2025-01-06T15:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/3d-edu.ch\/multi-material-3d-printing-with-fdm-3d-printers-how-do-you-combine-soft-and-hard-materials-tpu-with-pa-12-cf-in-one-component\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T14:15:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T13:15:07","slug":"multi-material-3d-printing-with-fdm-3d-printers-how-do-you-combine-soft-and-hard-materials-tpu-with-pa-12-cf-in-one-component","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/3d-edu.ch\/en\/multi-material-3d-printing-with-fdm-3d-printers-how-do-you-combine-soft-and-hard-materials-tpu-with-pa-12-cf-in-one-component\/","title":{"rendered":"Multi-material 3D printing with FDM 3D printers – How do you combine soft and hard materials (TPU with PA 12 CF) in one component?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you’re new to 3D printing, you’re probably discovering the variety of materials available. One of the most interesting groups of materials is composites, which includes carbon fiber, an extremely versatile material. But what can you actually do with 3D printed carbon fiber composites and when should you use them? <\/p>\n

Carbon fibers were first used by Thomas Edison in the late 19th century as filaments in early light bulbs. In the late 1950s, Union Carbide Corporation first recognized the strength benefits that could be achieved through further processing techniques. Over the next 50 years, manufacturing techniques continued to improve, and today carbon fibers are ubiquitous in high-performance products from race cars to airplanes. With advances in composite materials and the benefits of 3D printing, carbon fibers are now accessible to more people and for more applications than ever before. <\/p>\n

Traditional carbon fiber vs. composite blends<\/h2>\n

When you think of carbon fiber, the first thing that probably comes to mind is exotic race cars, sporting goods or aircraft parts – easily recognizable by the graphite black cross weave that is both incredibly strong and lightweight. The process of manufacturing components using the carbon fiber layup or weaving process produces incredible results, but can also be very costly and labor intensive due to the many steps required to produce a component. This is where carbon fiber composite blends come into play. With composite blends, the carbon fiber is shredded and mixed with a base resin or polymer. The result is a material that is easier to transform into parts (you can use techniques such as injection molding, machining and 3D printing). Another advantage of compositing carbon fibers is the ability to achieve additional properties by using different base polymers (nylon, for example, can impart some impact strength to reduce the brittleness of carbon fibers). <\/p>\n\n\t

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