Flexible materials are characterized by their excellent flexibility, toughness and chemical resistance . These materials are not used very often, they are expensive and suitable for advanced users due to the difficulty of printing. TPE is a material created by combining polymers with thermoplastic and rubber properties.
Typical FLEX is soft and flexible . It is used in 3D printing if the resulting product must be strong and flexible at the same time. This material is suitable for FDM printers. The temperature range for printing TPE fibers is 230 - 250 °C. It has high flexibility and excellent abrasion resistance. The material does not contain any toxins, but it is still not suitable for the food industry.
Possibilities of using the material:
Flexible filaments are best used for printing pads, silent blocks and other stressed parts.
With the right settings, stamps, RC tires, shoe parts, tapes, etc. can be printed.
Advantages:
Flexibility & Toughness
Spatial stability (low shrinkage)
Good layer cohesion
Hardness and rigidity
High mechanical and chemical resistance
Disadvantages:
High print difficulty
Slow print speed
Very bad bridging and overhangs
Difficult removal of supports
Stringing
Hygroscopic material (absorbs moisture)
Important rules for successful printing with flexible filaments
Make sure you don't have a clogged nozzle. If you are unsure, do a cold pull.
Allow the idler to push the gears against the filament just lightly. If the pressure is too high, the filament can get tangled in the gears.
If you are printing on a smooth backing or satin sheet, apply a separation layer (glue stick or kapton tape) to it. Textured TXT printing plates do not require any separation layer - the print will hold nicely and can be easily removed after cooling.
Press slowly. The slower the better. A typical speed for printing flexible filaments is around 20 mm/s, the maximum recommended speed is 30-40 mm/s. With higher speed, the risk of nozzle clogging or filament tangling increases. When using Original Prusa printers, we recommend using "Semiflex or Flexfill 98A" or "Filatech FilaFlex40" profiles, which are already correctly set.
Increase nozzle temperature by 5°C, leave print cooling off. This is how you reduce the resistance of the filament pushed into the extruder.
Keep the filament dry. Flexible filaments absorb moisture well and when they get wet, they are difficult to print with.
Tips for successful printing
Flexibility and slicer settings
Do you need better mechanical resistance? Set more perimeters and denser padding in the slicer. But if you need to keep the flexibility of the material, try reducing the number of perimeters and top/bottom layers. But be careful, flexible filaments have poor bridging properties and with a low number of top layers, unsightly holes and depressions can appear on the model.
Retraction
The lower the retraction, the smaller the risk of nozzle clogging or filament tangling. It is optimal to turn off retractions, and then slowly increase them and monitor the result.
Printing supports
You need to set a larger gap between the supports and the model in the Z axis. Try increasing it to 0.3mm. At lower values, supports may stick to the model so well that it will be difficult or impossible to separate them.
Filament sensor
Also remember that when printing with flexible filaments, the automatic filament change (filament sensor) may not work for you.
