NC State (NSCU) Decorative License Plate

Decorative front license plate piece I made for two reasons

1. GO PACK
2. I wanted to test PLA out in the heat here in NC

Here in NC, our summers are hot and humid (Temps often peak at 100+deg F for multiple days a year), and car interiors can easily exceed the glass transition temp for most PLAs, and I seen many a deformed part that was left in the sun. But I wanted to test how well PLA held up on the exterior, where temps can get close, but not nearly as hot as inside our transportation ovens.

I printed it in summer 2021 using a basic white PLA (I think it was a roll of comgrow that came with my printer), and have left it on my TJ thru today (spring 2023). It has sagged a bit after 2 summers, but has overall stood the test pretty well, despite it being a bug magnet.

LATE DECEMBER 2023 UPDATE
As seen in the last picture, the material finally had catastrophic failure one December morning on my in to work. Based on how the break occurred (within the layers at a weak point and not because of layer adhesion) and the fact that this was the first real cold of the season (27degF that morning) I believe that the material split under the stress of constant thermal expansion and contraction, but still well exceeded my initial expectations for what was possible for a part using uncoated PLA

All of my designs are unpaid passion projects that I choose to share, and I provide mesh models for free, but if you'd like to support me and my work, donations are greatly appreciated.

Category: 3D Printer Parts