3D Printing

Poor heat resistance (softens above 60°C), brittle, only moderate toughness, absorbs moisture easily

High printing temperature (230–260°C), prone to warping, requires an enclosed build chamber (80–110°C) to prevent warping, needs a heated bed, gives off irritating fumes, not biodegradable

Filament costs more than PLA / ABS, slower print speeds, softens at high temperatures

Difficult to print (stringing, requires fast cooling), higher filament cost, lower strength than rigid plastics

Strongly hygroscopic (must be stored dry), FDM printing requires high temperatures (240–280°C), prone to warping

Very high printing temperature (260–300°C), requires a high-temperature bed (100–120°C), prone to cracking, high filament cost

Filament costs far more than plain plastics; abrasive to the nozzle during printing, so a hardened carbide nozzle is required; reduced toughness and lower impact resistance than the base polymer, and printed parts can fail by brittle fracture; demanding process control — temperature and print speed must be precise, otherwise fibre agglomeration and poor interlayer bonding occur; rough surface, difficult post-processing, and dust may contaminate the equipment

Brittle, poor thermal shock resistance

Phase transformation at high temperature causes cracking; high cost

Low mechanical strength, degrades easily

Porosity and slight oxidation; requires vacuum drying and oxygen content kept below 0.1%

Cracking and segregation; requires substrate preheating (150–200°C) and HIP post-processing

Balling and hot cracking; requires a high-power laser (≥400 W) and a low-oxygen atmosphere

Hot cracking and elemental segregation; requires substrate preheating (200–300°C) and ageing heat treatment

Brittleness and porosity; requires controlled slow cooling and stress-relief annealing

High reflectivity and low relative density (requires electron beam processing, beam shaping and atmosphere protection)

Distortion and cracking (requires gradient preheating and high-pressure sintering)

Composition inhomogeneity and property variation (requires precise composition control and in-situ monitoring)

Poor toughness, weak impact resistance

High cost, slow curing

Brittle, narrow printing parameter window

Expensive; requires sterilisation after printing

Poor mechanical properties, fragile

Poor scratch resistance, prone to yellowing

Rough surface, requires sanding and post-processing

Brittle, poor thermal shock resistance

Phase transformation at high temperature causes cracking; high cost

Low mechanical strength, degrades easily

Complex workflow and long production cycles; high sintering shrinkage makes dimensional control difficult; low green-body strength and prone to damage; more expensive than conventional ceramics