Materials
PLA
Also known as: pla · acido polilactico · ácido poliláctico · polylactic acid
Short definition
PLA is a plant-derived thermoplastic, the most used filament in home 3D printing thanks to how easily it prints and how little it warps.
Full definition
It prints at low temperatures — Prusa publishes 210 ± 10 °C nozzle and 40–60 °C bed for its Prusament PLA — and its density is 1.24 g/cm³ to ISO 1183. Its limit is thermal: it softens around 55–60 °C, which in Mexico means a part inside a car parked in the sun will deform. It is biodegradable only under industrial composting conditions, not in a garden or a landfill.
Related terms
- FilamentFilament is the plastic thread wound on a spool that feeds FDM-type printers, normally 1.75 mm in diameter.
- Glass transition temperature (Tg)The glass transition temperature is the point at which an amorphous plastic goes from rigid to rubbery, and it marks the practical service limit of a printed part.
- DensityA printing material's density, in grams per cubic centimetre, is the figure that turns the volume reported by the slicer into grams and, from there, into money.
Materials
Updated
Sources
- [1]Technical datasheet — Prusament PLA by Prusa PolymersPrusa Polymers · Manufacturer · accessed July 27, 2026