Thank you for these tests, this have been in my head for a pretty long while, what the real trade offs are with those 2 LW filament, a great many thanks!
So basically LW-PLA gives you peace of mind with UV resistance and higher glass transition temperature, but if your RC plane crashes you end with more broken pieces all over the place, so it looks way more brittle than the LW-PLA.
I would have loved to see a comparison in material strength to the usual RC hobby materials like foamboard and balsa and plywood, but I guess getting consistent test specimens would be kind of hard.
3d printed planes cannot be compared to plywood+balsa planes, because the last one is outstanding as for flying properties but also for awesome appearance. No one says the real truth about 3d printed planes: surface quality is awful not only because of layer lines, but also because of thin walls which could be deformed easily because of heat so some places would be blown or shrinked even during the model cooling after print is finished. As for sanding - there's also not enough wall thickness and if holes don't appear the walls will be deformed. For sure you can apply some epoxy on the surface and sand it again but you'll get almost the same weight as if you print the plane with a regular pla. You also could try to print it with 0.6 nozzle and have some more wall thickness to sand, but it's definitely hard to sand pla... it's not abs which could be sanded easily... it's almost like CA glue
also 3d printed wings are really flexible... So my final thoughts: if you want some basher kamikaze plane which will hit trees and ground buy epp plane to fly under trees and barriers and cover it's nose and all front surfaces with packing tape something like reptile s800. I really did enjoyed this fpv wing for such a purpose and it survived lot of crashes and could stay amazingly flyable until the weight of uhupor will exceed the weight of foam))) and also epp doesn't chip in small pieces so the plane after gluing looks like new, and you will glue it really rear, it's really strong. If you want something that flies slow and a little bit less strong buy multiplex funcub, it's an awesome plane and I have a model on thingiverse for printing canopy for DJI vista. And finally when you become a pro pilot try a balsa plane, it's definitely another league especially with head tracking...
Another filament materials review in your established easy to understand and consistent methodology. Well done. But. there is a flaw in this test. LW ASA density as produced was about 80% the density of the LW PLA, so the test was not a genuine comparison. Some fiddling with setting should achieve a better matching of the realised densities, then you would have a more representative test. I was expecting the LW-ASA to be significantly stronger the the LW-PLA, sort of in keeping with the differences of the parent materials. LW-ASA is an emerging material that I believe is well worth tracking its development.
I am surprised that LW-PLA outperformed LW-ASA. Btw, i am curious if: 1. Foamed filaments are lighter and can compete with EPS/EPO styrofoam models? 2. LW-ASA can be acetone smoothed?
1) From density aspect, yes. But from strength aspect no 2) Yes, but I don't think it makes sense, foams will be re-melted or something, not really smoothed.
I think a better comparison would be varying the thickness for maximum strength. There is plenty of open space in an airframe. How does a thin wall PLA wing compare to a thick walled LW PLA/ASA? Can you print a thicker LW PLA/ASA part and get back a good deal of strength by sacrificing some of the weight advantage? As is, I see no benefit to LW ASA, and very little benefit to either LW filaments when the strength takes such a massive hit. If you can get to half or 2/3rds of the strength of PLA while still being lighter, that would be worth looking at. (and paying for)
PLA is actually very strong material, but only on room temperature. If just a little higher temp, PLA will creep under constant load. th-cam.com/video/88pk2cNOeGE/w-d-xo.html
Im waiting for this stuff to go on sale. I was about to buy some pla lw and realized the filament is double what I would normally spend on filament. $46 is a bit to much for me right now.
I would love to see this test repeated with 1) both LW materials run at the same finished part weight, since planes designed for LW PLA are designed for a specific weight for balance, and because higher air:resin ratio favors the heavier aterial and 2) run with an actively heated chamber like he did in this test. The Creality fabric enclosure is not the same thing th-cam.com/video/WrQiUL0jAzc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=IVXB0j3AsZbFgnog Better yet, a 3 way test between LW-PLA, LW-PLA-HT, and ASA-Aero in a printer capable of heating the chamber actively.
...and where are the numbers for the flight distance ? hmm? Sorry, I'm joking 😆. Great video, never really thought about those lightweight-materials until now. Maybe also some interesting points here: How are the insulating properties of these material (Sound, Temperature)? Do they have significant damping-properties? May be interesting for things like dampers for speakers or insulation for electric devices in cold temperatures.
They would be good (because there is a lot of air inside), but forget about Thermal insulation of LW-PLA, it is deforming on very low temperatures. Otherwise, if strength is not so important, then why not..
Printing filament that is mostly air makes no sense for additive manufacturing. You would be better off getting a smaller nozzle, then changing settings until you reach a low weight. We can already adjust weights by changing infill, printing foam seems like a gimmick imo
There is a minimum practical thickness you can achieve with FDM 3d printers, regardless of the nozzle you choose. It is around 0.3 mm, then the piece will not print reliably (especially sloping surfaces) and/or will fall apart when touching it. This phenomenon is similar with brick walls. You cannot reduce the weight of a brick wall by simply thinning it. As soon as you reach the minimum feasible (~10 cm) you cannot reduce it further. Then you have to use LW red bricks, keeping constant the thickness. Of course with foamed filaments you can reduce the weight by half, but you reduce the strength MUCH more. The piece, which is already less than 0.4 mm thick (otherwise it is better to use std PLA with a reduced thickness), is also extremely fragile and cannot be used for structural parts. So, to recap, the use case of LW filament is extremely rare. 99% of time the std PLA is the best choice. And the remaining 1% is not worth the hassle.
This is becoming one of my favorite 3D printing channels. Great work!
Yeah, very useful informations in almost all videos :) A lot of time saved :)
Looking forward to the results. I've been hoping they'd make this. Seems ideal for printhead parts, especially fan ducts.
fan duct, definatly not from LW-PLA, maybe from LW-ASA (more temperature resistant). But from strength aspect, I would recommend you PETG.
Thank you for these tests, this have been in my head for a pretty long while, what the real trade offs are with those 2 LW filament, a great many thanks!
It looks like normal PLA is a better material for RC models for most applications. I think you just saved me some money. Thank you.
As I mentioned in conclusions, if you need same volume with lower mass (=low density), then use these materials. LW-ASA is 1/3 of regular PLA density.
Thanks Igor, I bought both of them last month and have not try them yet
So basically LW-PLA gives you peace of mind with UV resistance and higher glass transition temperature, but if your RC plane crashes you end with more broken pieces all over the place, so it looks way more brittle than the LW-PLA.
I would have loved to see a comparison in material strength to the usual RC hobby materials like foamboard and balsa and plywood, but I guess getting consistent test specimens would be kind of hard.
th-cam.com/video/0YSXmKaWG-M/w-d-xo.html
3d printed planes cannot be compared to plywood+balsa planes, because the last one is outstanding as for flying properties but also for awesome appearance. No one says the real truth about 3d printed planes: surface quality is awful not only because of layer lines, but also because of thin walls which could be deformed easily because of heat so some places would be blown or shrinked even during the model cooling after print is finished. As for sanding - there's also not enough wall thickness and if holes don't appear the walls will be deformed. For sure you can apply some epoxy on the surface and sand it again but you'll get almost the same weight as if you print the plane with a regular pla. You also could try to print it with 0.6 nozzle and have some more wall thickness to sand, but it's definitely hard to sand pla... it's not abs which could be sanded easily... it's almost like CA glue
also 3d printed wings are really flexible...
So my final thoughts: if you want some basher kamikaze plane which will hit trees and ground buy epp plane to fly under trees and barriers and cover it's nose and all front surfaces with packing tape something like reptile s800. I really did enjoyed this fpv wing for such a purpose and it survived lot of crashes and could stay amazingly flyable until the weight of uhupor will exceed the weight of foam))) and also epp doesn't chip in small pieces so the plane after gluing looks like new, and you will glue it really rear, it's really strong. If you want something that flies slow and a little bit less strong buy multiplex funcub, it's an awesome plane and I have a model on thingiverse for printing canopy for DJI vista. And finally when you become a pro pilot try a balsa plane, it's definitely another league especially with head tracking...
Great video! I'm think if it's possible to print RC planes with a 0.2mm nozzle and PETG to get the same weight and mechnical performance as LW-PLA?
Another filament materials review in your established easy to understand and consistent methodology. Well done.
But. there is a flaw in this test.
LW ASA density as produced was about 80% the density of the LW PLA, so the test was not a genuine comparison.
Some fiddling with setting should achieve a better matching of the realised densities, then you would have a more representative test. I was expecting the LW-ASA to be significantly stronger the the LW-PLA, sort of in keeping with the differences of the parent materials.
LW-ASA is an emerging material that I believe is well worth tracking its development.
Makes a good argument for just halving the volume of regular PLA. Same weight as the LW stuff but still over twice as strong.
I am surprised that LW-PLA outperformed LW-ASA. Btw, i am curious if:
1. Foamed filaments are lighter and can compete with EPS/EPO styrofoam models?
2. LW-ASA can be acetone smoothed?
1) From density aspect, yes. But from strength aspect no
2) Yes, but I don't think it makes sense, foams will be re-melted or something, not really smoothed.
By the way, just thinking, why Colorfabb does not try to use some carbon fiber on their LW-ASA?
Any stiffness advantage from the CF gets negated by the ASA foaming with air pockets.
I think a better comparison would be varying the thickness for maximum strength.
There is plenty of open space in an airframe. How does a thin wall PLA wing compare to a thick walled LW PLA/ASA?
Can you print a thicker LW PLA/ASA part and get back a good deal of strength by sacrificing some of the weight advantage?
As is, I see no benefit to LW ASA, and very little benefit to either LW filaments when the strength takes such a massive hit.
If you can get to half or 2/3rds of the strength of PLA while still being lighter, that would be worth looking at. (and paying for)
Great video. Thank you!
I am surprised how strong is PLA in your tensile tests. I bet all of my prints were a fraction of this.
PLA is actually very strong material, but only on room temperature. If just a little higher temp, PLA will creep under constant load. th-cam.com/video/88pk2cNOeGE/w-d-xo.html
Do you know if i can buy those colorfab in the USA?
Do you have a link for the thermometer from Banggood? Thx :)
This one? It's in description: th-cam.com/video/a__nu-Mdv7U/w-d-xo.html
Igor, I really like your videos.
Im waiting for this stuff to go on sale. I was about to buy some pla lw and realized the filament is double what I would normally spend on filament. $46 is a bit to much for me right now.
Remember that 1 kg of this material due to the foaming will print as much as 2+ kg of normal PLA.
I get 2-3x the total printed product with LW-PLA than I do pla. It is far more economical when the actual usage is accounted for.
Beautifull video, Thank you ;)
I would love to see this test repeated with
1) both LW materials run at the same finished part weight, since planes designed for LW PLA are designed for a specific weight for balance, and because higher air:resin ratio favors the heavier aterial and
2) run with an actively heated chamber like he did in this test. The Creality fabric enclosure is not the same thing
th-cam.com/video/WrQiUL0jAzc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=IVXB0j3AsZbFgnog
Better yet, a 3 way test between LW-PLA, LW-PLA-HT, and ASA-Aero in a printer capable of heating the chamber actively.
...and where are the numbers for the flight distance ? hmm?
Sorry, I'm joking 😆. Great video, never really thought about those lightweight-materials until now. Maybe also some interesting points here: How are the insulating properties of these material (Sound, Temperature)? Do they have significant damping-properties? May be interesting for things like dampers for speakers or insulation for electric devices in cold temperatures.
They would be good (because there is a lot of air inside), but forget about Thermal insulation of LW-PLA, it is deforming on very low temperatures. Otherwise, if strength is not so important, then why not..
Get a de-burring tool. Much easier and safely remove bumps, strings, etc.. vs. the pocket knife.
I'm not sure yhd weight loss of lw pla is worth the loss in strength
Hey what 3d model did you use for the plane?
www.thingiverse.com/thing:4868033
@@MyTechFun Thank you!!!
Thanks.
Printing filament that is mostly air makes no sense for additive manufacturing. You would be better off getting a smaller nozzle, then changing settings until you reach a low weight. We can already adjust weights by changing infill, printing foam seems like a gimmick imo
There is a minimum practical thickness you can achieve with FDM 3d printers, regardless of the nozzle you choose. It is around 0.3 mm, then the piece will not print reliably (especially sloping surfaces) and/or will fall apart when touching it.
This phenomenon is similar with brick walls. You cannot reduce the weight of a brick wall by simply thinning it. As soon as you reach the minimum feasible (~10 cm) you cannot reduce it further. Then you have to use LW red bricks, keeping constant the thickness.
Of course with foamed filaments you can reduce the weight by half, but you reduce the strength MUCH more. The piece, which is already less than 0.4 mm thick (otherwise it is better to use std PLA with a reduced thickness), is also extremely fragile and cannot be used for structural parts. So, to recap, the use case of LW filament is extremely rare. 99% of time the std PLA is the best choice. And the remaining 1% is not worth the hassle.
I can't understand you because you speak so fast!
Can change the speed setting