Prototyping
3D printing prototyping enables fast, precise, and cost-efficient development of new designs. Complex geometries and functional parts can be produced quickly, allowing rapid testing and iteration. This shortens development cycles and reduces time-to-market. Ideal for validating form, fit, and function before full-scale production.
Advantages
Smarter parts, fewer limits.
You can go from CAD to a physical prototype in hours or days instead of weeks, without waiting for tooling or complex machining setups. This accelerates feedback, allows multiple design variants in parallel, and compresses development cycles dramatically.
Prototypes can be produced without investing in molds, dies, or dedicated fixtures, which keeps early-stage costs down. That makes it affordable to test more concepts, catch issues before tooling, and avoid expensive late design changes.
With the broad range of 3D printing materials, prototypes can closely mimic end-use properties for strength, temperature, and surface quality. This lets teams assemble parts, run real-world tests, and validate ergonomics, fit, and performance before committing to full production
Possibilities
3D printed prototypes help teams quickly evaluate shape, ergonomics, and assembly before investing in tooling. Typical examples include handheld device housings, snap‑fit covers, and connector brackets that are assembled with real electronics to validate clearances, usability, and cable routing under real conditions.
Prototypes printed in engineering materials allow early testing of strength, stiffness, and kinematics. Use cases include gears and levers in test rigs, mounting brackets for vibration or load testing, and fluid manifolds or air ducts whose flow behavior and mounting points are verified on the bench or directly on the machine.
In medical and dental applications, 3D printed prototypes turn scan data and CAD designs into tangible, procedure-ready parts. Examples range from trial implant components and instrument handles for ergonomic evaluation to surgical drill guides and dental splints used to test fit, positioning, and workflow before final certified devices are produced.
Materials
Stratasys® Somos® WaterShed® Black is a stereolithography (SLA) resin designed for producing rigid, tough parts in a true black color without requiring post-print painting. This versatile resin delivers a tensile strength of 50.4 MPa, elongation at break of 15.5%, and tensile modulus of 2,770 MPa, with a heat deflection temperature (HDT) of 50°C at 0.46 MPa and notched Izod impact of 25 J/m.
Stratasys Neo800+ is an advanced large-format stereolithography (SLA) 3D printer that can print the Somos® Watershed® Black perfectly. It is optimized for high-speed production of accurate prototypes. Building on the Neo800 platform, it achieves up to 50% faster print speeds through ScanControl+ technology while maintaining superior surface quality and reliability, making it ideal for prototyping in automotive, aerospace, and consumer goods sectors.
Materials
Somos® GP Plus 14122 is a low-viscosity stereolithography (SLA) resin from Stratasys® that produces opaque white parts mimicking ABS and PBT production plastics, suitable for general-purpose prototyping and functional testing. It offers high resolution, good mechanical strength, and easy processing. The material delivers a tensile modulus of approximately 2,800 MPa, flexural strength of 90 MPa, and heat deflection temperature up to 60°C at 0.455 MPa, balancing rigidity and toughness for snap-fit assemblies and load-bearing prototypes.
Stratasys Neo800+ paired with Somos WaterShed GP Plus 14122 offers a robust combination for high-volume stereolithography (SLA) prototyping, leveraging the printer's large build volume and the material's general-purpose durability. LayerControl+ automatically adjusts thermal parameters, ensuring consistent part quality across the 800 x 800 x 600 mm build envelope without failures.
Materials
Somos WaterShed XC 11122 is a low-viscosity, optically clear stereolithography resin that produces tough, water-resistant ABS-like parts ideal for prototyping applications requiring clarity and durability. Its formulation ensures high dimensional stability, low moisture absorption, and ease of finishing, making it suitable for functional testing, fluid flow visualization, and detailed concept models. The resin exhibits a liquid viscosity of approximately 260 cps at 30°C, density of 1.12 g/cm³ at 25°C, and optical parameters including Ec of 11.5 mJ/cm², Dp of 6.50 mils, and E10 of 54 mJ/cm² for reliable curing on 355 nm SLA systems.
The Somos WaterShed XC 11122 resin pairs excellently with the Stratasys Neo800+ printer for prototyping, taking full advantage of the printer’s open 355 nm SLA system and ScanControl+ technology to enable high-speed production of this low-viscosity, clear resin. This combination produces tough, transparent parts with ABS/PBT-like properties, offering excellent moisture resistance and optical clarity–perfect for fluid flow visualization, wind tunnel models, and functional assemblies in automotive and aerospace prototyping.
Materials
INFINAM® RG 3101 L is a rigid photopolymer resin that demonstrates a well-balanced mechanical profile. With a tensile modulus of 2100 ± 200 MPa and a flexural modulus of 2100 ± 40 MPa, the material exhibits consistent stiffness under both tensile and bending loads. An elongation at break of 30 ± 10 % provides a notable degree of ductility, reducing brittleness and allowing the part to absorb deformation before failure. The heat deflection temperature of 80 ± 3 °C at 0.455 MPa (66 psi) indicates adequate thermal stability for applications operating in moderately elevated temperature environments.
The XiP Pro from Nexa3D®, featuring patented LSPc® 7K technology and a build volume of 292 × 163 × 410 mm, is an ideal platform for functional prototyping with INFINAM® RG 3101 L. Its high-resolution LCD engine accurately reproduces fine details and tight tolerances, while the material's tensile and flexural modulus of 2,100 MPa ensures the structural rigidity required for mechanical evaluation and fit-and-function testing. Combined with 30 % elongation at break and a heat deflection temperature of 80 °C, this pairing delivers prototypes that can be meaningfully tested and validated under real-world engineering conditions.
Materials
Printable with
PTG PA12 is a high-performance polymer with a dry density of 1,020 kg/m³, median particle size of 58 µm, and melting temperature of 187°C – delivering superior detail fineness, surface resolution, and excellent chemical resistance. Available in white and black, it is well suited for functional prototypes, individual components, models and series production.
A variety of printers, including Nexa3D®'s QLS 230, QLS 236, QLS 260, QLS 820, the Stratasys® H350™ and Raise3D’s RMS220 can print this material with precision without the use of supports, allowing you to design complicated structures.
Materials
Printable with
Stratasys® ABS-M30 is a production-grade thermoplastic offering 25–70% higher tensile, impact, and flexural strength than standard ABS. With an IZOD impact of 128 J/m, heat deflection up to 96°C, excellent layer adhesion, and volume resistivity over 10¹⁴ ohm-cm, it delivers durable, dimensionally stable parts – ideal for prototypes, tooling, jigs, fixtures, and end-use components across automotive, electronics, and consumer goods applications.
The Stratasys F770 is a large-format industrial FDM 3D printer designed for reliable, high-volume production of complex parts using engineering-grade thermoplastics. It offers a massive build volume of 1000 × 610 × 610 mm (39.4 × 24 × 24 in., or 372,000 cm³) with a maximum diagonal length of 1,171 mm, making it ideal for producing large components or batches of smaller parts.
Materials
ASA (acrylonitrile styrene acrylate) is an all-purpose FDM thermoplastic suited for a wide range of large-format applications. It offers a tensile yield strength of 33–37 MPa, flexural strength of 60–70 MPa, IZOD impact (unnotched) of 321 J/m, and heat deflection up to 100°C – outperforming ABS-M30 equivalents. Low warpage, a matte surface finish, and availability in ten colors make it a versatile and practical choice for prototypes and functional end-use parts.
The F770 FDM 3D printer offers one of the biggest print volumes among all Stratasys FDM systems. This printer, when combined with Stratasys® ASA filament, allows you to manufacture large parts or vast collections of smaller parts that meet your specific requirements.
Materials
Use Cases
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