ABS vs ASA: Printing Car Parts That Survive Summer Heat

Automotive heat reveals which 3D printed materials actually survive. PLA softens near 60°C and fails in a hot car, while ABS handles interior heat and ASA handles exterior sun and UV.

In this episode you'll learn:

• ABS has a glass transition around 105°C and parts work long-term at roughly 80 to 90°C, while PLA starts softening at 50 to 60°C.
• ABS density ranges from 0.9 to 1.53 g/cm3 with a median of 1.07 g/cm3, and thermal conductivity sits around 0.1 W/(m K).
• ASA replaces ABS's butadiene with an acrylate elastomer, which resists UV photo-oxidation that yellows and embrittles ABS outdoors.
• ASA tensile strength is about 33 MPa and Izod impact strength around 321 J/m, comparable to ABS (30 to 40 MPa, 200 to 400 J/m).
• ASA Heat Deflection Temperature reaches up to 93°C per Prusament data, in the same band as ABS (80 to 98°C).

Read the full guides on our site: ASA: Outdoor Alternative to ABS Without Compromise · ABS Production Guide: When and Why to Choose It Over PLA

Watch on YouTube: 3D Printing Made Easy playlist

We 3D-print custom props and game pieces for Z-AGENCY and TerraHunt.

This show is our AI bonus channel: episodes are automatically generated audio editions of the articles we publish at printara3d.com, so you can follow our topics on the go.