Polymaker's HT-PLA Pro boosts impact strength, keeps heat resistance
Polymaker has introduced HT-PLA Pro, a new filament designed to significantly improve impact strength and layer adhesion in high-temperature PLA without compromising its heat resistance or ease of printing.
Utrecht-based filament manufacturer Polymaker has launched HT-PLA Pro, an enhanced version of its heat-stable HT-PLA filament. This new material addresses common criticisms of high-temperature PLA, namely its brittleness and weak layer adhesion. Polymaker reports that HT-PLA Pro more than doubles the notched Charpy impact strength compared to standard HT-PLA, increasing it from 4.94 kJ/m² to 9.94 kJ/m². Additionally, Z-axis layer adhesion has been boosted by approximately 30%, rising from 20.8 MPa to 26.8 MPa.
The heat resistance, a key feature of the HT-PLA line, remains largely unchanged. As printed, HT-PLA Pro exhibits a Vicat softening temperature of 148.3°C, which rises to 150.5°C after annealing. Its heat deflection temperature, measured at 0.45 MPa after a 30-minute anneal at 100°C, is 107.6°C. Polymaker clarifies that the 150°C Vicat figure refers to shape retention without load and that the material is not intended for automotive under-hood applications, nor is it certified for food-contact or medical use.
A significant aspect of HT-PLA Pro is its accessibility. The filament is designed to print on standard FDM machines without requiring an enclosure or a hardened nozzle. It utilizes familiar PLA printing settings, with a nozzle temperature of 230°C and a bed temperature between 25–65°C. The material has also been validated for print speeds up to 300 mm/s. Polymaker emphasizes that this ease of use, combined with the substantial toughness upgrade, makes it a more dependable option for functional parts without adding workflow complexity.
Polymaker positions HT-PLA Pro to close the toughness gap in accessible desktop filaments, offering an alternative to users who desire improved performance without graduating to more complex engineering plastics. The filament is available in 18 colors with a recommended retail price of €25.99 / $25.99, aligning it with the pricing of Polymaker's existing HT-PLA range. This development follows Polymaker's previous introductions of HT-PLA and its glass-fiber variant, HT-PLA-GF, which demonstrated superior heat handling compared to standard PLA, ASA, and PETG while maintaining easy-print characteristics.
HT-PLA Pro's development represents a significant step in making high-performance materials more accessible. By enhancing impact strength and layer adhesion while retaining heat resistance and ease of printing on standard FDM machines, Polymaker addresses a key trade-off in filament development. This lowers the barrier for creating more robust, functional parts suitable for demanding applications, moving beyond basic prototyping and closer to end-use parts without requiring specialized hardware.
Edited by the news editor with AI from the original report — please refer to the original source.