How cold can PLA get?
posted in Community by
chrismclean
I've never thought about cold tolerances before! We usually only talk about hot tolerances.
Google doesn't tell me much. Do you guys know a cold temperature tolerance for PLA?
My customer is talking about putting these parts through -315.7 F to -452.5 degrees Fahrenheit temps. Ice cold!
9 years, 4 months ago
If the parts are not significantly stressed then I don't see what the problem is... It's not like they will magically crumble under their own weight.
Cold temperatures really only decrease the strain to failure, toughness, impact resistance and notch fracture resistance. Many materials actually have a greater yield stress (if there is one anymore) and rupture stress at lower temperatures. Do some googling on the affect of temperature on plastic properties. There are some decent graphs in google images.
Like with most materials cold temperatures will cause them to shrink so if there is something passed through a bore at a tight clearance you may introduce some significant stress that way.