Polylactic Acid

What Does Polylactic Acid Mean?

Polylactic acid (PLA) is a type of plastic that is used in building models and prototypes of solid objects and components. It is a thermoplastic polyester that serves as the raw material in 3-D printing or additive manufacturing processes and applications.

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Polylactic acid is also known as polylactide acid.

Techopedia Explains Polylactic Acid

Polylactic acid is primarily created using renewable or green sources such as sugar cane, starch and corn. As a result, it can easily be recycled. It is used in most additive manufacturing processes that design 3-D models and prototypes through plastic-based materials. In fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology, the molten polymer filament, which is extruded from the controller nozzle, is polylactic acid.

PLA is a popular and commonly used plastic raw material in 3-D printing, after acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), which comes in both hard and soft forms. Both are suitable for a variety of applications.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…