Polycarbonate 3D printing: heat and impact resistant parts

Polycarbonate (PC) 3D printing is for parts that must stay rigid when warm and take a hard impact without shattering: high-temperature jigs and fixtures, structural parts under load, impact-facing guards, and replacements for parts that already failed in ABS. At 3Descu, polycarbonate sits at the top of the filament range for heat and impact and is priced instantly in the calculator. Specify it when the part has a stated service temperature or a stated load; otherwise ABS, PC-ABS or PETG does the job for less.

PC prints slowly and at high temperature, so a polycarbonate part carries more machine time than the same geometry in PETG. That is the whole trade: top-of-range performance for a higher price per part. 3Descu prints it on its own fleet of 200+ printers in Targu-Jiu, Romania.

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Polycarbonate at 3Descu: key facts

Polycarbonate (PC)
Best for	High temperature fixtures and jigs; structural parts under load; impact-facing guards and shields; replacements for parts that failed in ABS
Wrong for	Cost-sensitive work; very large flat parts; parts where a cosmetic finish is the point
Heat	Very high, the top of the filament range
Stiffness	High
Impact	Very high, the top of the filament range
Outdoors / UV	Short term only
Water and chemicals	Not rated; name the fluid in the notes
Finish	Functional; not the material for a cosmetic surface
Colours	13 standard colours in the calculator; a RAL or Pantone code on request
Printed on	The FDM fleet: up to 320 x 320 x 320 mm on the standard machines, up to 500 x 500 x 500 mm on the large-format machines
Layer height	0.12 mm to 0.28 mm, 0.20 mm by default
How it is priced	Instantly in the calculator; slower printing shows up as more machine time

These are the working classifications carried on the polycarbonate material page, not measured figures. A printed part does not have the properties of the spool it came from; orientation, walls and infill all change the result, so a critical load or temperature belongs in the notes on the quote.

What polycarbonate 3D printing is for

Polycarbonate is rarely the first material tried. It is what a part gets printed in after it softened, cracked or deformed in something cheaper. Typical PC jobs:

• Fixtures and jigs beside a warm process, such as a holding fixture next to a soldering, heat-staking or curing step, where an ABS fixture slowly loses its shape.

• Structural brackets with a stated load, where the part has to stay rigid rather than creep over time.

• Guards, shields and covers that face impact: machine guards, protective housings, parts that get hit or dropped.

• Replacements for ABS parts that softened near a heat source or cracked under a knock.

Polycarbonate heat resistance

Polycarbonate is the most heat resistant filament in the 3Descu range, the only one rated Very high for heat in our working classifications. It stays rigid at temperatures that soften ABS. We do not publish a heat deflection temperature, because a figure copied from a filament data sheet is not a number a printed part holds. If the part has a service temperature, write it in the notes and the reply says whether PC is needed or whether PC-ABS covers it for less. A material data sheet can be supplied on request.

Polycarbonate is also the ceiling of what we print. If a part needs more heat resistance than PC, the answer is a high-temperature polymer such as PEEK or PEI, and 3Descu does not print those.

PC vs PC-ABS vs ABS

Material	Heat	Stiffness
ABS	High	Medium
PC-ABS	High	High
Polycarbonate	Very high	High

Material	Impact	Outdoors
ABS	High	Not suitable
PC-ABS	Very high	Not suitable
Polycarbonate	Very high	Short term only

Material	Machine time
ABS	Lowest of the three
PC-ABS	In between
Polycarbonate	Highest

Material	Choose it for
ABS	Warm parts, parts to drill, tap or smooth
PC-ABS	Large engineering parts, automotive interior, housings that take knocks
Polycarbonate	A stated service temperature or a hard impact

The practical order is ABS first, PC-ABS when ABS is not quite strong enough, and polycarbonate when the part has a number attached to it. If the choice is between ABS and PC and the part is large, PC-ABS is usually the one that ships, because it keeps most of polycarbonate's toughness while printing more like ABS. The PC-ABS guide and the ABS guide go deeper on each.

When polycarbonate is the wrong choice

• Cost-sensitive work. If there is no stated temperature or load, ABS or PETG will do the job for less. Why machine time drives the price is explained in what drives 3D printing cost.

• Very large flat parts. Like ABS, PC shrinks as it cools, and long flat sections bow. PC-ABS or ABS CF handle large geometry better.

• Months outdoors. Polycarbonate is rated short term only outdoors. For a part that lives in sunlight, ASA is the answer; see the ASA guide.

• A cosmetic surface. PC is an engineering material. For a part that has to look moulded, small parts go to resin.

• A part that must be metal. 3Descu does not print metal. Sometimes a part is metal only because the original was, and a filled filament covers it; if it really has to be metal, a metal bureau is the right supplier.

Design rules for polycarbonate parts

The 3Descu design rules apply in full. For PC, four matter most.

• Design against shrinkage. Large flat geometry wants ribs or a split line. A split designed at a joint that was going to exist anyway is better than one chosen during file preparation.

• Put the material in the walls. The load-bearing shell is the walls, not the infill. A structural PC bracket is better served by four or five walls than by more infill, and since PC is slow to print, extra walls are usually cheaper than a solid part.

• Orient for the load. A printed part is weakest between layers. For a guard that takes impact or a bracket under load, say in the notes which direction the force comes from.

• Use heat-set inserts for any fastener that will be undone more than once, and chamfer overhangs to 45 degrees to avoid support marks.

How to order polycarbonate at 3Descu

1. Upload the file to the calculator. STEP, STL, OBJ and 3MF are accepted.

2. Choose FDM and Polycarbonate PC, then a colour and infill. Raise the wall count under Advanced Settings for structural parts.

3. In the notes, write the service temperature, the load and its direction, and any fluid the part will meet.

4. Price the same file in PC-ABS as well. If the difference is large and the part has no stated temperature, PC-ABS may be the better buy.

5. Submit. A person replies the same business day with the confirmed price.

A specific PC grade or brand goes through "Custom material" and is priced by hand, also the same business day. The minimum order is €20 per order, not per part.

Polycarbonate in short

• Polycarbonate vs ABS: PC rates higher than ABS on heat, stiffness and impact in our classifications, and costs more machine time.

• Polycarbonate vs PETG on price: PC prints slowly and at high temperature, so the same geometry takes more machine time. The calculator shows the difference on your file.

• Outdoors: short term only. ASA is the outdoor filament.

• PEEK, PEI and ULTEM: not printed at 3Descu. Polycarbonate is the top of the range for heat.

• Large housings: PC-ABS is usually the better buy, keeping most of polycarbonate's toughness and heat resistance with less machine time.

The second attempt has to be right

Polycarbonate is often ordered after another material has failed, so the choice is checked twice. Every PC quote at 3Descu is read by a person before an invoice is issued, and if the notes show the part would be fine in PC-ABS or ABS, the reply says so rather than billing the dearer material. On request you get photos at any production stage and a dimensional QC report, free on orders over €500, under an ISO 9001:2015 certified quality system. And the contract carries it: a part that does not conform to the agreed specification is reprinted free of charge or refunded, under Article 5.5.

Get a free quote and price the part in polycarbonate and PC-ABS before you decide it needs PC.