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Thermal conductivity is how well a plastic conducts heat. Most plastics don't conduct heat very well at all, which is what allows them to be 3D printed. That being said, there are a lot of potential use cases for highly thermally conductive filament, assuming you could print them. A commonly discussed one is computer heatsinks. Similar heatsinks could also be used for stepper motors and extruders in 3d printing.

To get a good picture which plastics are useful in such an application (like mentioned in question: "Water-cooling stepper motor with aluminum block"), I need to know what is the thermal conductivity of the commonly used thermoplastics.

K Mmmm
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  • 17
  • 36

2 Answers2

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All values are in W/(m*K).

  • PLA: 0.13
  • HIPS: 0.20
  • ABS: 0.25
  • PETG: 0.29
  • PEEK: 0.25
  • PLA with copper: 0.25 (see discussion)
  • PETG with 40% graphite: 1.70 (ansiotropic)
  • TCPoly: 15
  • Steel (not a 3dprintable plastic): 10 - 50

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K Mmmm
  • 1,742
  • 2
  • 17
  • 36
0

Trimet3d has a Nano diamond PLA with a claimed thermal conductivity 3-5 times that of PLA. The diamonds are sub-microscopic and smooth. See https://www.tiamet3d.com/product-page/ultra-diamond-pla-1kg Primarily they seem to be doing it to gain strength.

I would prefer larger diamonds for higher thermal conductivity. It would be ferociously abrasive even for a diamond nozzle. It would also limit the thermal expansion.

Jon
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