FDM 3D printing is the most widely used 3D printing technology at present, and basically all FDM 3D printers generally use the wire rod of PLA and ABS as the printing material. However, this situation has changed. Some FGF pellet 3D printers begin to use plastic particles as printing materials.


For a long time, plastic particles are mainly used for injection molding, including the wire used for 3D printing, which is also made of plastic particles. When using 3D printing of plastic particles, the extrusion method is slightly different from that of wire. The plastic particles are installed in a funnel-shaped container and enter the melting zone at a certain speed. The plastic particles are hot melted into paste, and then extruded to the printing platform through the nozzle.

Compared with wire rod, the use of plastic particles for printing has the following advantages: 1. The material cost is lower. Because the wire rod is made of plastic particles, the direct use of plastic particles saves one step. 2. The printing speed is faster and more materials can be melted in the same time. 3. The mechanical properties are better. When making wire with plastic particles, it needs to be heated, which will lose some properties. The direct thermal melting of plastic particles avoids this problem.

Compared with wire, plastic particles also have some disadvantages: 1. The printing process is irreversible. When printing with wire, it can be suspended or cancelled at any time. When printing with particles, there is no such flexibility and it needs to be printed at one time; 2. The surface is rougher. 3. The fineness is relatively low. The wire rod can accurately control the extrusion speed to obtain the corresponding fineness. The printing flow rate control of particles can not be as accurate as the wire rod.

Combining the advantages and disadvantages of the two materials, granular materials are suitable for printing large-scale plastic parts, such as various furniture, ship parts and so on. Wire is suitable for printing small plastic parts and plastic parts with certain accuracy requirements.