PLA material (Polylactic Acid) is one of the most common 3D printing materials. It is environmentally friendly and derived from renewable resources like sugar cane or corn starch. You can use the material to manufacture many objects. When cooling, this material contracts less than ABS, so you can get greater details than ABS, but it is more brittle. If you want to print some decorative objects or food containers, Polylactic Acid is a good choice.
We can use PLA material in many fields, for example, toys, food containers, etc. PLA has the ability to degrade into non-toxic lactic acid, so we can use this material in medical field, such as rods, screws. These medical parts can be put in a patient’s body, and they will break down in several months.
This material’s melting point is low (around 150℃), and the extrude temperature can be set at 180℃~210℃. It doesn’t need a heated bed when 3d printing. So it is safer than ABS as 3d printing filament.
Thanks to its low melting point, we can use PLA as the material of “lost casting”. You can print an object with Polylactic Acid, and encase it with plaster-like material. Then this low melting point material can be burned out and then the surrounding material will be a mold for casting.
When you print complex 3d models, you will find sometimes supporting structure is necessary. And if you have a 3d printer with 2 extrudes, PVA filament is a good supporting material with PLA. So we recommend you to get both of the two material filaments for dual extrudes 3d printer that is compatible.
PLA filament can be used on 3d printer that is compatible with 1.75mm filament. You can choose different colors: White, Blue, Grey, Red, Silver, Orange, Yellow, Copper, Gold, Green, Black, and so on.
Disadvantage:
It is not suitable to make outdoor objects;
It is not a good choice to make functional parts;
Machining the material is difficult.
