How much STRONGER is PLA+ really?

PLA is still the most common 3D printing material but often not suitable for every application due to its brittleness and bad thermal performance. Modified PLAs known under the name PLA+, Tough PLA or Impact PLA claim to tackle some of those downsides. I thoroughly compared regular and modified PolyLacticActid in terms of printability, strength, stiffness, impact resistance, and thermal behavior. So is it worth spending the extra dollar for those materials? Let’s find out more!

💚 Support me 💚
Join as a YouTube member!

🤑 Interested in the filaments?

🎙Check out my PODCAST with Tom Sanladerer

📚Further information:

🎥 Related videos:

⚙ My gear (Affiliate Links):
🎥 CAMERAS & LENSES
🎙AUDIO
🔴 LIVE STREAMING

[CNCKitchen]

Don't forget to share this video on Facebook, Reddit, Twitter and other social media!

[you_just]

“Eco-ABS” is such a deceptive marketing term for a modified PLA. Imagine if metalworkers marketed a new steel alloy as “eco-titanium.” The hobbyist manufacturing community puts up with too much.

[RentableSocks]

PLA+ blends are way different between the vendors, would like to see a PLA+ shootout video!

[christophermaschek]

Congrats, on the change in your life!

[stevobox]

Please test more modified PLA's, especially ESUN i'm very interested in seeing as their PLA+ cost almost the same as the regular PLA

[umbratherios]

esun pla vs esun pla+ for me has a few interesting differences. the pla+ is tougher and less brittle, but has a VERY slightly lower glass transition temp (3 or so degrees c lower)

[zommyre]

thats a nice new pet! what breed is it?
Don't worry about the schedule, we still love your content, take all the time you need :)

[Tump]

Not many people pay the price of Polymaker, how about testing esun PLA vs esun PLA+ since it is about half the price of polymaker.

[lowellalleman]

I came across your videos a few months ago after owning a 3d printer for nearly a year. Your content and approach are amazing, I think I've binge watched most of them now! You've ask and answered so many questions that I've had too, but I don't have the resources, time, or experience to dig in. Thanks for enabling us newbies to make more informed decision as we practice our 3d printing skills.

This is my first time commenting on any of your videos, because I have to say CONGRATS! We just had our 4th (and last) kid a few months ago, and it's a wild ride.

Keep the videos coming as time permits. I'll still be here!

Oh, and the podcast with Tom is great too. You guys put us lazy Americans to shame, I can barely understand aother languages, let alone speak them fluently. Great stuff. Thanks again and enjoy time with the family!

[StevenHess]

Congratulations on the new arrival Papa!
I'd love to see a comparison for Esun PLA and PLA+. I find the PLA+ gives me better prints. It prints a bit hotter then plain PLA. Bed adhesion is good too.

[DPrintPioneers]

Love all of your videos! You truly help shed light on so many different questions that I've had. Thank you for all of your videos!

[MrBebopbob]

Congratulations on the new addition to your shop and thanks for another great video.

[MrDizzyDewil]

Congratulations on the changes! And thank you for the useful experiments!

[coreymac]

Congratulations on the birth of your daughter! I always enjoy your material properties videos. Thanks for sharing.

[besnico]

I love your videos and your scientific approach to rigorous testing!! Got me hooked the first time I saw your stuff. Congrats on the new member of the family!!

[Kyrios]

Congratulations to you and your family, I too have my own little change as well since a month ago, and plenty of time to watch your videos. I bought an ender 3 pro about a week ago and found your channel as I was looking for advise on how to start on 3d printing, and your insight has been a tremendous help. I want to thank you for every bit of knowledge you give us. Hope you and your family are doing well through these troubling times, have a wonderful day or night :)

[Austin]

Awesome video, as always. I have some analysis that people may find helpful.
Toughness is the area under the stress-strain curve at 7:12. Based upon this, the significantly higher impact energy of PLA+ at 9:48 is expected. However, for most practical applications, the part is considered to have failed once it permanently deforms. This is where resilience comes in. Resilience is the area under the linear portion of the stress-strain curve. Looking at the graph unmodified PLA is significantly more resilient. Moreover, it has a larger strain before permanently deforming. This makes the unmodified PLA significantly better for the vast majority of parts. From these numbers, an easy rule of thumb is to not even consider PLA+ unless the part you are making is intended to be permanently deformed, like a bumper that needs to absorb impact energy.

[kurtlindner]

Congratulations on the new addition to your family!

[J.R.jr-pcbo]

Congratulations!!! I'm so happy for you. Having a child definitely is an extreme life changing event. Nothing will ever be the same. It is interesting and awesome to see how they grow and mature right before your eyes. My daughter is now 3 and she leaves me dumbfounded and surprised every day! Again Congratulations to you and your lady 🙂

[sircharles]

Funny how i started to get interested in 3d printing again
Looked up different styles of printer builds to build myself
Then rediscovering this channel and all the videos about variables that contribute to the strength of parts
Only to stay this long to see a new video uploaded ^^
You definitely deserve my sub