White Paper: Materials SPONSORED BY: Fluidic Systems metering and mixing machines are widely used in the Aerospace Industry for their accuracy in processing adhesive/sealants and coatings. This white paper compares meter/mix technologies and highlights the advances of Fluidic Systems dispens

Andrew Corselli Artist’s rendering of an atomically thin coating of silver and some silver atoms below the surface, protecting the crystalline structure of a solid electrolyte from mechanical pressure. (Image: Chaoyang Zhao) A solid — rather than liquid — electrolyte between the opposite electrodes

White Paper: Materials SPONSORED BY: This white paper explores the critical role of mixing technologies in the rapidly evolving battery industry, where precision and efficiency directly impact product performance and scalability. Proper mixer selection not only influences the electrochemical

Our Materials Science blog post series showcases commonly used manufacturing materials, their properties, and other relevant characteristics. This post looks at the go-to additive manufacturing material Inconel 718, exploring this nickel-based superalloy’s properties and common additive

The latest post in our Materials Science blog series moves us into the world of machining. Here, we look at high-strength titanium and break down the benefits and weaknesses to help you decide if this is the right material for your next machining project. Titanium is a popular materia

If you’re looking for materials that are built to last, look no further than nylon and Delrin, an acetal homopolymer. These two multipurpose materials offer durability, strength, and long-term wear resistance, and both are ideally suited for an array of injection molding and machin

Looking for the best steel grade for your next project? There are certainly loads of them to choose from. Cruise the website of any online metal supermarket or leaf through the pages of Machinery’s Handbook, however, and you might leave more confused than when you started. Not to worry.

We sometimes get questions about how thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) differ from thermoset elastomers and which of the various TPEs would work best for a given part. One of the most fundamental differences between a part made with thermoplastics and one made with thermosets has to do wit

Manufacturing clear molded parts adds all sorts of considerations to your designs and how we make your parts. The ideal materials for a project are determined by a material’s qualities and its behavior during both manufacturing and the end-user experience. Because transparent injection m

Designers and engineers these days are more frequently turning to industrial-grade, metal 3D printing (additive manufacturing) for prototype and production parts. At Protolabs, our direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) technology builds fully functional metal prototypes and end-use parts w

Back in my Industrial Arts class, Lexan was a magical brand of material that we were allowed to use—sparingly. The price was high, but there was no question that the end-product looked great. We were told it could be thermally formed, saw-cut, milled, or lathed into mechanical pieces for

When designing a part for injection molding, it might be daunting to navigate the hundreds of plastic materials available. Our Materials Science blog series aims to make the decision making process a little easier by highlighting some key materials available in each of our manufacturing

There are hundreds of plastic material options to sort through when designing for injection molding, and it can be hard to know which one is right for your project. Our Materials Science blog series aims to simplify the decision-making process, highlighting some key materials available i

With PP Natural, you can now 3D print parts in real polypropylene. The material you choose for your part essentially is your part, so selecting the right material is a key decision for product designers. A case in point is polypropylene, which is one of the most versatile plastics a

Hey! Who’s a fan of organic chemistry? *crickets* OK, you may not have liked studying it, but without those chains of carbon-based molecules life would be rough. So here at Protolabs we’re all about paying our respects to those special groups of bonded atoms called polymers. This

You can find parts made of nylon all over the place, but what can you do if you want to use nylon but it’s just not tough enough. Glass-filled nylon is a synthetic polyamide thermoplastic and it’s one of the most important materials used in engineering thanks to its strength and heat re

Aluminum is a common and popular metal that’s found everywhere and used in a stunningly wide range of parts and products: automotive parts, aerospace components, boat and marine gear, consumer electronics including smart phones, industrial machinery parts, HVAC systems, the list goes on

Molded from attractive, translucent ABS, this part was manufactured for Triax Technologies for their Proximity Trace device, which during the COVID-19 pandemic helped companies do contact tracing in the workplace. Feeling a little apprehensive about that upcoming medical procedure?

Delrin has been used for a stunning variety of parts, including guitar picks, left, and a surgical stapler, right. When you work with us at Protolabs, you’ll be able to choose from hundreds of manufacturing materials that include various grades of thermoplastics, metals, and elasto

Low cost room temperature punching grade with mechanical and electrical properties similar to NP612. This version is made with pigment cover plies on the surface. NP664 also complies with IEC 60893-4-1 PF CP 207.PropertiesGeneralPropertyValueTesting StandardCommentBonding strength499 KgASTM D229Cond