Materials

Material compatibility

As explained under Print core installation, the Ultimaker 3 comes with two print cores for build material (AA) and one print core for water-soluble support material (BB). The AA print cores can be used for printing PLA, ABS, CPE, CPE+, Nylon, PC, TPU 95A, PP and Breakaway. The BB print core can be used for PVA.

This compatibility is based on single-extrusion prints with a print core 0.4.  If you are using 0.25 or 0.8 print cores, the compatibility is slightly different.

The overview below shows which material can be used with which print core.

(*) Please note that PVA must be printed with the BB print core.

For an overview of possible dual-extrusion material combinations take a look at the table below.

Although the Ultimaker 3 has an open material system, the use of Ultimaker material on the printer is recommended. All Ultimaker materials have been tested extensively and have optimized profiles in Ultimaker Cura to ensure the best print result.

Using Ultimaker materials will also allow you to benefit from the NFC detection system. Ultimaker spools will automatically be recognized by the Ultimaker 3, and this information can be directly transferred to Ultimaker Cura when connected via the network. This allows for a seamless connection between the printer and Ultimaker Cura software.

Print settings

Each material requires different settings for optimal results. If you use Ultimaker Cura to prepare your model, these settings are automatically set correctly if the correct print core(s) and material(s) are selected.

For all materials that are supported on the Ultimaker 3 it is also recommended to apply a thin layer of glue (using the glue stick from the Accessory Box) or an adhesion sheet to the glass plate before starting a print. This will make sure that your print adheres well to the glass plate.

For detailed instructions on which settings and adhesion method to use per material, take a look at the material manuals.