Hard/Tough

Tough Resin  simulates the feel and many of the important mechanical properties of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) plastic.

 ABS is a very common thermoplastic that provides a good balance of strength and flexibility.

Tough Resin creates strong engineering prototypes and has been developed to withstand high stress and strain. Consider using this material for “works-like” prototypes and assemblies, including designs with snap fit joints and living hinges.

Toughness refers to a material’s ability to absorb energy before fracturing. When a tough material yields, it will undergo some deformation rather than just shattering. In other words, tough materials have a little more “give” than brittle ones.

Toughness is also defined as the area under a stress-strain curve. Tough materials generally have a good balance of strength (the amount of stress a material can withstand) and ductility (the elongation or percentage strain).

 Because of this, the area under a tough material's stress-strain curve is much larger than that of a very strong material with low elongation.

Toughness directly correlates to the amount of energy each material can absorb before failure.

RECOMMENDED FOR:

High-stress components

Snap-fit functions and living hinges

Machining

Cyclic loading

Works-like/feels like ABS prototyping

Geometrically accurate prototyping under load

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR:

Very fine features or thin walls

Rigid or stiff prints

High-temperature applications

Constant loading