Flexible 3D Printing Materials
Soft, abrasion-resistant TPU and true 3D-printed silicone — parts that have to bend, compress and recover.
If your part needs to flex — gaskets, grips, vibration dampers, drone bumpers, custom seals — two routes cover the field. TPU is the FDM workhorse: Shore 95A as standard (softer 85A and harder 98A on request), stretches up to 700% before breaking and recovers fully. And on the Formlabs Form 4 we print true 100% Silicone 40A — no mould, no casting — for seals and grommets that need genuine rubber behaviour from -25°C to 125°C, with Flexible 80A and Elastic 50A resins also quotable for soft-touch and stretch parts. Rigid plastics snap; pick the flexibility that matches where the part lives.
FLEXIBLE 3D PRINTING MATERIALS FAQ
TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) is the only flexible material in our FDM catalogue. We print at Shore 95A as standard — a medium-firm rubber feel — with softer (Shore 85A) and harder (Shore 98A) grades available on request. TPU bends, stretches up to 700% before breaking, and recovers fully.
Yes — custom-shape gaskets, weather seals and equipment seals are one of the most common TPU jobs. We reverse-engineer from a worn original or print from your CAD. Print parameters tune compression behaviour to match your application. Note: not for direct food contact, layer-line bacteria risk applies.
TPU at Shore 95A is firmer than typical silicone (Shore 30–50A) but softer than rigid plastics. It's abrasion-resistant where silicone tears, dimensionally stable where silicone deforms, and printable to complex geometries silicone moulds can't easily produce. For flex with structure, TPU; for ultra-soft, silicone moulding via SLA pattern.
We supply Shore 85A (softer, gummier) and Shore 98A (firmer, almost rigid) grades on request alongside the standard 95A. For ultra-soft applications below 85A consider SLA flexible resin instead. Specify your Shore target on the quote and we'll match.