3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
ABS-FR vs PA11
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | Flame-retardant ABS (FR-ABS)ABS | PA11 (Nylon 11)PA |
|---|---|---|
| Market snapshot | ||
| Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots | $52.00/kg median; $44.99–$120.00/kg across 5 dated product listings | $194.98/kg median; $194.98–$194.98/kg across 1 dated product listings |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Base polymer / chemistry | ABS with a flame-retardant package; 3DXTech rates the base resin UL 94 V-0[1] | Polyamide 11, polymerised from castor-oil-derived aminoundecanoic acid — a bio-based nylon[2][3] |
| Densityg/cm³ | 1.18 (ISO 1183) — above unfilled ABS at 1.05 because of the retardant loading[1][4] | 1.02 (ISO 1183)[2] |
| Typical priceUSD/kg | 1 kg-equivalent spools span 45–120; the middle of the market is about 52[5][6][7][8] | Not documented |
| Price range across brandsUSD/kg | 45–120 across brands; SUNLU 45, YXPOLYER 50, Coex 3D 52, 3DXTech 107 at 750 g pricing; the FR PC/ABS grade runs 120[5][6][7][8] | Not documented |
| Market availability1–5 | Niche, a handful of specialist brands[5] | Niche, a handful of specialist brands[3] |
| Spool sizes & diameters | 1.75 and 2.85 mm; 750 g spools[5] | 1.75 mm; 1 kg spools[3] |
| Typical applications | Electrical enclosures and transport interiors that must meet a flammability rating[1] | Tough, chemically resistant functional parts; Prusa targets it at impact-loaded and vibration-loaded components[3] |
| Diameter tolerance± mm | Not documented | ±0.02 (Prusament)[2] |
| Printing Parameters | ||
| Nozzle temperature°C | Not documented | 275 ± 10 (Prusament)[2] |
| Bed temperature°C | Not documented | 100 ± 10 (Prusament)[2] |
| Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5 | Enclosure recommended[9] | Enclosure required (passive) — Prusament specifies a 55 ± 5 °C chamber[2] |
| Recommended chamber temperature°C | Not documented | 55 ± 5 (Prusament)[2] |
| Bed surface & adhesion aid | Clean the plate and apply glue; Simplify3D also lists Kapton tape and ABS slurry[9][10] | PA nylon sheet (Prusament)[2] |
| Warping tendency1–5 | High — enclosure needed for reliable large parts[9] | Not documented |
| Bed-adhesion difficulty1–5 | Needs a specific surface plus adhesive[9] | Not documented |
| Stringing / oozing tendency1–5 | Slight — Polymaker advises 1–2 mm retraction at 20–30 mm/s[11] | Not documented |
| Overall printing difficulty1–5 | Intermediate — dry filament and a tuned profile[9] | Advanced — enclosure, hardware upgrades, tuning[2][12] |
| Extruder requirement | Not documented | Prusa printed its test specimens with a high-flow CHT nozzle[2] |
| Hardware Wear & Reliability | ||
| Nozzle hardness required1–4 | Brass fine indefinitely[9] | Brass fine indefinitely for unfilled grades[12] |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Non-abrasive[1] | Non-abrasive when unfilled[12] |
| Nozzle clog risk1–5 | Low — 3DXTech lists no special nozzle concerns and no minimum layer height for its FR-ABS, only an 80 °C pre-dry[13] | High — jams from moisture, heat creep or particles[14] |
| Heat-creep / jam sensitivity1–5 | Slightly sensitive[10] | Not documented |
| Hotend requirement | No special hot-end required[10] | Not documented |
| Moisture Behaviour | ||
| Moisture absorption (hygroscopicity)1–5 | Moderate — the ABS matrix takes up 0.51–0.65 % saturated at 25 °C / 55 % RH and 3DXTech specifies a 80 °C, 4 h pre-dry[4][15][13] | High (0.8–2 %) — Prusa measures 0.46 % after 7 days at 22 % RH, but PA11 sits between PA12 and PA6 in the family[2][14] |
| Equilibrium moisture content at ~50 % RH% | Not documented | 0.26 after 24 h and 0.46 after 7 days (Prusa Polymers method)[2] |
| Symptoms when wet | Bubbling and popping at the nozzle, stringing and a rough surface[14] | Popping and cracking during extrusion, then hard-to-diagnose defects[16] |
| Effect of moisture on strength | Polymaker rates ABS moderate-sensitivity and publishes no dry-versus-conditioned figures; absorbed water flashes to steam in the hotend and shows as bubbling and poor layer adhesion[14] | Prusa publishes no dry-versus-conditioned columns; the CoPA reference shows the PA-family response — stiffness and strength fall sharply, impact and elongation rise[16][17] |
| Storage requirement | Sealed with desiccant; Polymaker rates ABS moderate-sensitivity[14] | Sealed below 20 % RH with desiccant[14] |
| Mechanical Properties | ||
| Tensile strength (XY)MPa | 45 at break (printed XY, ISO 527)[1] | 38.3 ± 0.8 printed horizontal and 39.5 ± 0.5 printed vertical at yield, ISO 527-1[2] |
| Young's modulusMPa | 1990 (printed XY, ISO 527)[1] | 1200 printed, both orientations, ISO 527-1[2] |
| Elongation at break% | 4 at break (printed XY, ISO 527) — well below the 10 % of unfilled 3DXTech ABS[1][18] | 5.6 ± 0.1 at yield, printed, ISO 527-1[2] |
| Flexural strengthMPa | 80 (printed XY, ISO 178)[1] | Not documented |
| Flexural modulusMPa | 2250 (printed XY, ISO 178)[1] | 1100 printed horizontal and 1000 printed vertical, ISO 178[2] |
| Charpy impact, notchedkJ/m² | Not documented | 12.9 ± 2.1 printed horizontal and 11.7 ± 1.2 printed vertical, ISO 179-1 notched[2] |
| Layer adhesion / Z tensileMPa | Not documented | 32 ± 1 (Prusa Polymers interlayer adhesion test) — the highest interlayer figure Prusa publishes for any of its filaments[2] |
| Brittleness1–5 | Moderate — elongation at break falls to 4 % from 10 % for the unfilled grade[1][18] | Tough — absorbs impact, yields before breaking[2] |
| Hardness (scale-specific)Shore A / Shore D / Rockwell | Not documented | 70 Shore D (Prusa Polymers method)[2] |
| Creep resistance / sustained load1–5 | Moderate — no creep test found; Tg of 105 °C keeps room-temperature service far below softening[1][18] | Not documented |
| Fatigue / repeated-flex resistance1–5 | Below average — no S-N curve found; elongation at break falls to 4 % against 10 % for unfilled 3DXTech ABS[1][18] | Excellent — living hinges viable[12] |
| Elasticity / flexibility1–5 | Rigid[1] | Semi-flexible[2] |
| Z strength as % of XY% | Not documented | 84 — Prusa publishes a tensile anisotropy coefficient of 0.84, the ratio of Z to XY tensile strength[2] |
| Thermal Properties | ||
| HDT at 0.45 MPa°C | Not documented | 58.7 (ISO 75, 0.45 MPa)[2] |
| HDT at 1.8 MPa°C | Not documented | 49.9 (ISO 75, 1.8 MPa)[2] |
| Glass transition (Tg)°C | 105 (DSC)[1] | Not documented |
| Flammability / UL 94 | UL 94 V-0 at 1.5 mm, rated on the base resin rather than the printed part[1] | Not documented |
| Environment & Chemical | ||
| Chemical resistance | Good against weak acids, weak alkalis, oils and grease; dissolved by acetone[19] | Not documented |
| Water / humidity resistance in service1–5 | Not documented | Absorbs water, properties shift[16] |
| Food contact | Not food safe — Polymaker cites potential chemical leaching[11] | Not documented |
| Biodegradability / compostability | Not biodegradable[11] | Bio-based — the monomer comes from castor oil[3] |
| Recyclability | Mechanically recyclable but not accepted in household plastic collection[11] | Not documented |
| Health & Safety | ||
| Fume toxicity1–5 | High — hazardous VOC such as styrene; enclosure and filtration needed[20][9] | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised[20] |
| VOC emission rateµg/min | 12–113 styrene, the dominant VOC from every ABS and HIPS combination tested[20] | Up to 180 caprolactam, the dominant VOC from nylon; total VOC reached nearly 200 µg/min, the highest of the nine filaments tested[20] |
| Ultrafine-particle emission rateparticles/min | 2 × 10¹⁰ to 9 × 10¹⁰ median across all ABS printers, two orders of magnitude above PLA's ≈1 × 10⁸[20] | ≈2 × 10⁸ median — low for ultrafine particles despite the highest VOC mass of any filament tested[20] |
| Hazardous species emitted | Styrene dominates. Bambu Lab states ABS and ASA release harmful gases such as styrene at printing temperature, which can be toxic and cause dizziness or nausea[20][9] | Caprolactam, at up to 180 µg/min from nylon filament — the largest single-VOC emission rate measured in the study[20] |
| Ventilation / filtration requirement1–5 | Enclosure with carbon and HEPA filtration — an enclosure alone cut measured UFP by only about 35 %[20][9] | Ventilated room or enclosure recommended[20] |
| Post-Processing | ||
| Sanding & machining | Sands well and takes filler before painting[11] | Not documented |
| Painting & finishing | Paints readily after light abrasion[11] | Not documented |
| Support material pairing | HIPS breaks away or dissolves in d-limonene; Bambu Lab sells a dedicated Support for ABS[21][9] | Not documented |
| Solvents & Solubility | ||
| Soluble in | Acetone dissolves it — the basis of ABS slurry; so do MEK, THF, ethyl acetate, chloroform, dichloromethane and toluene.[22][19] | Dissolved at 23 °C by formic acid, phenol, m-cresol, 96 % sulphuric acid or hexafluoroisopropanol — all laboratory reagents.[23][22] |
| Softened or crazed by | Petrol and perchloroethylene soften it and benzene attacks it; d-limonene disrupts layer adhesion in some ABS and ASA grades.[22][24] | Mineral acids, oxidants, halogens and zinc chloride solutions attack the amide bond; ordinary solvents do not (BASF, PA6/66).[23] |
| Solvent welding & smoothing agent | Acetone: about 20 min of vapour at 80 °C over 5 mm of liquid. Prusa measured layer adhesion more than doubled.[25] | None — nylon's only solvents are formic acid, phenol and HFIP, all of which degrade the part they wet.[23] |
Material entries describe families or representative grades, not an interchangeable specification for every spool. Test methods, orientations and conditions may differ. Unknown values are marked “Not documented”. Prices and source dates remain historical snapshots; check the linked guide for product details. Differences highlight text, not a universal winner.
Sources for this comparison
- Firewire Flame Retardant ABS Technical Data Sheet 3DXTech · 2026-08 · tds
- Prusament PA11 Technical Datasheet v1.0 Prusa Polymers · 2026-07 · tds
- Prusament PA11 — material page Prusa Polymers · 2026-08 · doc
- Bambu Filament Technical Data Sheet V3.0 — ABS Bambu Lab · 2026-08 · tds
- 3DXTech product catalogue 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
- SUNLU ABS-FR (ABS Flame Retardant) 3D Printer Filament 1 kg SUNLU · 2026-08 · vendor
- YXPOLYER ABS Flame-Retardant product page YXPOLYER · 2026-08 · vendor
- Flame Retardant Black ABS Coex 3D · 2026-08 · vendor
- ABS / ASA / PC Usage Guide Bambu Lab Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- ABS — Ultimate 3D Printing Materials Guide Simplify3D · 2026-08 · doc
- ABS — material basics Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- PA (Nylon) — material basics Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- FIREWIRE FR-ABS — product page (print recommendations) 3DXTech · 2026-08 · doc
- Wet Filament — signs, causes and drying Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Polymaker ABS Pro Technical Data Sheet V1 (2026-05-29) Polymaker · 2026-05 · tds
- Moisture Conditioning — effect on printed nylon properties Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- PolyMide CoPA Technical Data Sheet V5.4 (dry and wet status blocks) Polymaker · 2024-11 · tds
- 3DXMAX ABS Technical Data Sheet 3DXTech · 2026-08 · tds
- PolyLite ABS Technical Data Sheet (V5.5 served at this URL) Polymaker · 2024-11 · tds
- Emissions of Ultrafine Particles and Volatile Organic Compounds from Commercially Available Desktop Three-Dimensional Printers with Multiple Filaments (Azimi et al.) Environmental Science & Technology 50(3) 1260-1268 · 2016-01 · paper
- HIPS — Ultimate 3D Printing Materials Guide Simplify3D · 2026-08 · doc
- Chemical resistance — resistance of Ensinger plastics to chemicals (DIN 50 014, 23/50) Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds
- Ultramid Nylon Chemical Resistance guide (unmodified PA6 B27E and PA66 A27E) BASF · 2026-08 · tds
- HIPS — Knowledge Base Prusa Research · 2026-08 · doc
- Improve your 3D prints with chemical smoothing Prusa Research · 2026-08 · doc