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I'm planning to print a certain sample holder which is going to be placed on a CD-Rom BLDC motor and spun at about 1000-1500 RPM. The holder would essentially be a 2-3 mm thick 100 mm square platform with 1-2 mm thick hooks rising up from outer edges of the platform to hold the sample. The bottom of this platform would also contain a 15 mm diameter crevice designed to latch onto the disc holder attached to the motor. How durable would this printed holder be under these conditions, if it was made of ABS plastic, for example?

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  • $\begingroup$ Please consider to add specific details to your query. You likely would be able to spin even PLA at those speeds if the sample item was fairly small in diameter, while it can be expected that ABS would fracture if the sample part is 200 mm in diameter and 2 mm thick. Please also consider to reference item shape, thickness and direction of print layers. As Johnny Five would say, "Need more input!" $\endgroup$
    – fred_dot_u
    Sep 20, 2016 at 20:58
  • $\begingroup$ The part would essentially be a 2-3 mm thick 100 mm square platform with 1-2 mm thick hooks rising up from outer edges of the platform to hold the sample. The bottom of this platform would also contain a 15 mm diameter crevice designed to latch onto the disc holder attached to the motor. $\endgroup$
    – Osta
    Sep 20, 2016 at 21:46
  • $\begingroup$ @Osta: I suggest you update your question with this information, so users don't have to scan the comments in order to get the relevant information. $\endgroup$
    – Dampmaskin
    Sep 21, 2016 at 9:06
  • $\begingroup$ Is your sample going to be contained within the perimeter of the hooks, or will the hooks be used to secure the sample as it whirls about the outside of the manufactured part? If the sample is contained within the perimeter of the hooks, is it of uniform or symmetrical shape? That is, will it balance about the center point? $\endgroup$
    – fred_dot_u
    Sep 21, 2016 at 20:46
  • $\begingroup$ The hooks would be used to press the sample to the platform. The sample itself should cover most of the area of the platform and retain the center of mass of the whole structure near the rotational axis. $\endgroup$
    – Osta
    Sep 22, 2016 at 20:18

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Really the only thing that would matter for this project is the amount of torque the motor has available and subsequently how heavy your setup is that is connected to the motor. A part that size may just be too heavy for a CD-ROM motor if you intend on adding more parts.

However, to answer your question, ABS should be able to endure the stress. I recommend paying attention to how the hooks are printed. You'll want to make sure that the hooks are printed in profile, meaning that the profile of the hooks should be printed with each layer. This will help provide structural integrity to, what sounds like, the most stressful area of the part (the outer edges of a spinning device and a clamping feature).

Something to keep in mind for projects like this is that most of the time the design will likely be the cause of failure, not the capabilities of the material.

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  • $\begingroup$ Printing the hooks in profile results in layer structures that are weak across the surface of the holding design. A hook of 2mm height will have very little general structural strength, regardless of print orientation. Of course, ABS will be stronger than PLA, but I suspect that some additional reinforcement will be necessary. Subsequently, additional weight will be added. $\endgroup$
    – fred_dot_u
    Sep 23, 2016 at 17:54
  • $\begingroup$ @fred_dot_u I think this highly depends on the actual design of the hooks. In the end, if the design is flawed, the part will break and OP will have to adjust and re-print. That's the beauty of 3D printing, it's a low-cost prototyping machine. $\endgroup$
    – tbm0115
    Sep 26, 2016 at 14:14
  • $\begingroup$ 2 mm height does not leave much with which to work. Aluminum or other metal might be okay with such a small or low profile, and injection molded plastic or similar near-monolithic construction might be okay, but as strong as ABS plastic can be, it's formed in layers of reduced strength. It would be interesting to have an engineer provide the real world figures of such a model spinning at the speeds noted. $\endgroup$
    – fred_dot_u
    Sep 26, 2016 at 15:07

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