Are you trying to decide between PLA and PLA+ for your next 3D printing project? Whether you're a beginner printing simple models or an experienced user working on functional parts, this guide will help you understand the key differences between these two popular materials. We'll break it all down for you: performance, printing settings, and practical use cases.
Definition and Difference between PLA and PLA+
Polylactic acid (PLA) is a bio-based thermoplastic made by polymerization of lactic acid extracted from renewable resources (such as corn starch). It has become the first choice for 3d printer filaments because of its ease of printing, eco friendly, safety and affordable price.
Although PLA performs well in printing, its material properties make it unable to meet the needs of high-performance application scenarios. The emergence of PLA+ solves these problems. PLA+ enhances the mechanical and material properties of PLA by adding modifiers. This change makes up for its shortcomings and also correspondingly improves the difficulty of printing.
Material performance Comparisons
1. Strength
Despite PLA's low price, its strength is mid-to-high among 3D printing materials. This means that it exhibits strong resistance to fracture when subjected to tension. Finished products printed with PLA can also maintain good strength.
However, PLA has poor toughness and is easily broken when impacted. The strength of PLA+ usually has higher tensile strength and toughness due to the addition of modifiers. This makes PLA+ better than PLA in high-pressure environments.
2.Heat resistance
The heat distortion temperature of PLA is usually 50-60°C. This means that PLA materials will begin to soften or even deform in environments exceeding this temperature. The softening temperature of PLA+ can generally be increased by developers to 70-80°C or even higher. making it usable as a functional material in a wider range of scenarios.
3.Durability
PLA has moderate strength, but its wear resistance is poor and it is easy to produce particles, wear and even breakage due to friction. In addition, long-term exposure to air or sunlight will accelerate the aging of PLA filament. Although PLA plus has improved wear resistance and durability compared to PLA, it is still not as good as PTEG.
4. Hygroscopicity
Although the hygroscopicity of PLA+ is slightly lower than that of PLA, it is still easy to absorb moisture from the air. Consequently, adequate drying and storage prior to printing are essential. Especially when pursuing high-precision printing, excessive humidity of the material may lead to reduced printing quality. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare a filament dryer for PLA+ and PLA filament and store them in vacuum bags.
Recommended reading:How to Dry Filament: PLA, ABS ,TPU & Nylon
5. Environmental friendliness
Both PLA and PLA+ are considered environmentally friendly materials. However, its complete degradation also requires certain conditions, and it takes several years to be completely degraded in a normal natural environment. PLA+ adds various reinforcing agents to PLA, making it more difficult to be completely degraded. Because these modified materials usually contain petroleum-based materials.
Print performance Comparisons
There are some clear differences in the 3D printing process between PLA and PLA+. Here's a detailed comparison of PLA and PLA+ under common printing settings:
| Aspect | PLA | PLA+ |
|---|---|---|
| Extruder Temp | 190°C-220°C, ideal ~200°C | 200°C-240°C, requires precise control |
| Bed Temp | Optional or 20°C-50°C | 50°C-70°C to prevent warping |
| Build Surface | Good adhesion on glass/PEI | Same as PLA, may benefit from BuildTak |
| Surface Quality | Smooth, moderate interlayer adhesion | Smooth, better interlayer adhesion |
| Print Speed | 40mm/s-60mm/s, suitable for rapid prototyping | 40mm/s-50mm/s, prioritizes strength |
| Cooling | Fan needed, low speed (0%-30%) for 1st layer | Same, with greater fan adjustment sensitivity |
| Printing Difficulty | Easy, stable in most environments | Moderate, precise settings needed |
1. Extruder Temperature
The printing PLA filament nozzle temperature needs to be between 190°C and 220°C, and the most commonly used temperature is about 200°C. Due to the addition of reinforcing agent, the best printing temperature for pla plus needs to reach about 200°C to 240°C . It should be noted that PLA and PLA+ printing temperatures that are too high will cause stringing, while temperatures that are too low will cause poor layer adhesion.
2. Bed Temperature
PLA is a low-shrinkage material that will not bend or warp significantly without a hot bed. PLA+ may have a slightly higher risk of warping than PLA due to the addition of toughening agents. Therefore, it is recommended to adjust the hot bed temperature to 50°C to 70°C when printing PLA+.
3. Build Surface
PLA and PLA+ have good bed adhesion and can be well combined with common printing surfaces such as glass plates and PEI. ABS and PETG usually require stronger adhesion. It is recommended to use BuildTak to reduce the possibility of warping of printed products.
4. Surface Quality
Generally speaking, the surface of finished products printed with PLA+ and PLA is relatively smooth. The surface quality is also very similar. However, PLA+ usually has higher interlayer adhesion. This is because PLA+ has added modifiers, which makes it more fluid and easy to fill tiny gaps.
5.Print Speed
As PLA+ pursues higher strength or toughness, the speed needs to be slightly reduced to ensure adequate adhesion between layers.
So PLA has a higher printing speed than PLA+. The printing speed of PLA is about 40mm/s to 60mm/s, and the printing speed of PLA+ is about 40mm/s to 50mm/s, so PLA is more suitable for rapid prototyping and display printing.
6. Cooling
PLA and PLA+ are more dependent on cooling fans. PLA has a relatively low glass transition temperature, and a cooling fan is needed to reduce its fluidity. In order to achieve the purpose of fixing it in a specified position.
However, when printing the first layer, it is recommended to turn off the fan or reduce the fan strength to 0%-30% to enhance the adhesion of the first layer to the printing surface. The wind force may be gradually increased according to the situation when printing the second layer and thereafter.
8. Printing difficulty
Although PLA+ is superior to PLA in mechanical properties, it has higher requirements for the printing environment than PLA. The adjustment of the PLA+ nozzle temperature requires more precision. If the temperature is too low, it may lead to insufficient interlayer bonding or uneven material extrusion; if the temperature is too high, it is easy to cause excessive flow, drawing or rough surface.
In addition, as mentioned above, when printing PLA+, the hot bed temperature needs to be set at 50°C-70°C, otherwise there may be a risk of warping. In contrast, PLA It has low requirements on ambient temperature and can print stably in most environments.
Conclusion
PLA and PLA+ cater to different needs in 3D printing. PLA is suitable for beginners and daily models, users with low performance requirements or daily model making. PLA+ is more suitable for printing load-bearing parts or more durable functional parts. Choose based on your specific project requirements and printing expertise.