3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
PA aramid vs PEI 9085
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | Aramid-fibre nylonPA | PEI (ULTEM 9085)HIGHTEMP |
|---|---|---|
| Market snapshot | ||
| Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots | Not documented | $309.80/kg median; $220.00–$392.00/kg across 6 dated product listings |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Base polymer / chemistry | Aramid-fibre reinforced polyamide[1] | Polyetherimide, ULTEM 9085 grade — the flame-retardant PEI used for aircraft interiors[2] |
| Densityg/cm³ | Not documented | 1.34 (ISO 1183, 3DXTech) against 1.27 specific gravity on moulded plaques (ASTM D792, Stratasys) — the two suppliers disagree[2][3] |
| Typical priceUSD/kg | Not documented | 1 kg-equivalent spools cluster near 298[4][5][6][7] |
| Price range across brandsUSD/kg | Not documented | 220-392 across brands and formats; 3DXTech ThermaX PEI 9085 220 at 2 kg, 3D4Makers 270 at 2 kg, Fiberlogy 298 at 500 g, Kimya 321 at 500 g, IEMAI 3D 385 at 1 kg, 3DXTech CarbonX PEI 9085+CF 392[4][5][6][7][8] |
| Market availability1–5 | Special order, 1–2 makers worldwide — no aramid-filled nylon filament was found in any catalogue searched; the aramid filaments that do exist in the retail market use an ASA matrix[9][4] | Niche, a handful of specialist brands[4][5][6][7] |
| Spool sizes & diameters | Not documented | 1.75 and 2.85 mm; 250 g to 2 kg spools, plus Stratasys canisters[4][7][3] |
| Typical applications | Not documented | Aircraft interior parts and rail rolling stock, where the flame, smoke and toxicity rating is the requirement[2] |
| Printing Parameters | ||
| Bed temperature°C | Not documented | 130–140 (3DXTech)[2] |
| Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5 | Enclosure required (passive) — as for every nylon[1] | Actively heated chamber required[10][11] |
| Warping tendency1–5 | Not documented | Severe — heated chamber needed[10] |
| Overall printing difficulty1–5 | Not documented | Expert / industrial hardware only[10][11] |
| Hardware Wear & Reliability | ||
| Nozzle hardness required1–4 | Hardened steel required — no aramid-filled nylon datasheet was obtainable; Polymaker measures about 9 h of brass nozzle life on its fibre-filled nylons[12] | Brass fine indefinitely for unfilled grades, but brass softens near these nozzle temperatures — hardened or plated hot ends are the norm[10] |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Highly abrasive — fibre-reinforced nylon composite[12] | Non-abrasive when unfilled[2] |
| Nozzle clog risk1–5 | High — jams from moisture, heat creep or particles; nylon already needs a drybox and Prusa names kevlar among the fibres that raise nozzle-clogging risk[13] | Moderate — needs dry filament and a clean nozzle; 3DXTech lists no special nozzle concerns but a mandatory 120 °C pre-dry before every print[14] |
| Moisture Behaviour | ||
| Moisture absorption (hygroscopicity)1–5 | Very high (>2 %) — the polyamide matrix governs uptake[15] | Not documented |
| Effect of moisture on strength | Polymaker's printed dry-versus-wet blocks for its CoPA nylon show what conditioning does to the family: tensile 78.0 → 34.3 MPa and modulus 2703 → 724 MPa, with notched Charpy rising 6.9 → 27.7 kJ/m². Fibre reinforcement reduces but does not remove the effect[16][17] | No dry-versus-conditioned figures are published; 3DXTech mandates a 120 °C, 4 h pre-dry before every print because trapped water flashes to steam at these nozzle temperatures[14] |
| Mechanical Properties | ||
| Tensile strength (XY)MPa | Not documented | 63-77 at break (printed XZ, ASTM D638, Stratasys F900/F3300/Fortus 450mc, three tips and two colours); 54 (printed XY, ISO 527, 3DXTech)[3][2] |
| Young's modulusMPa | Not documented | 2040-2540 (printed XZ, ASTM D638, Stratasys); 2050 (printed XY, ISO 527, 3DXTech)[3][2] |
| Elongation at break% | Not documented | 5.4-9.1 at break (printed XZ, ASTM D638, Stratasys); 1.9-4.3 in ZX; 3DXTech quotes 3 (ISO 527)[3][2] |
| Flexural strengthMPa | Not documented | 104-116 at break (printed XZ, ASTM D790 Procedure A, Stratasys); 72-98 in ZX; 3DXTech quotes 90 (ISO 178)[3][2] |
| Flexural modulusMPa | Not documented | 2400-2550 (printed XZ, ASTM D790, Stratasys F900 T16 and T16A) against 2120-2130 in ZX; 3DXTech quotes 2170 (ISO 178)[3][2] |
| Other impact data | Not documented | Izod notched 88.5-140 J/m XZ against 37-80 J/m ZX; unnotched 647-2260 J/m XZ against 169-633 J/m ZX (printed, ASTM D256/D4812, Stratasys, across three printers and three tips)[3] |
| Layer adhesion / Z tensileMPa | Not documented | 39-63 at break (printed ZX, ASTM D638, Stratasys); the low end is the F900 T16 baseline, the high end the F3300 N500 hot end[3] |
| Brittleness1–5 | Not documented | Brittle — snaps with little warning[2] |
| Hardness (scale-specific)Shore A / Shore D / Rockwell | Not documented | Rockwell M110 / R126 on extruded PEI stock (ASTM D785)[18] |
| Creep resistance / sustained load1–5 | Not documented | Excellent — holds load for years. Printed ZX coupons keep 87 % of room-temperature tensile strength at 104 °C and 70 % at 132 °C (ASTM D638); extruded PEI stock is rated 170 °C long-term service[3][18] |
| Elasticity / flexibility1–5 | Not documented | Rigid[2] |
| Z strength as % of XY% | Not documented | 56-86 (Stratasys ZX against XZ tensile at break, ASTM D638, across F900/F3300/Fortus 450mc and T16/T20/T40A tips); 58 on the F900 T16 baseline[3] |
| Thermal Properties | ||
| HDT at 0.45 MPa°C | Not documented | 158 (printed XY, ISO 75 at 0.45 MPa, 3DXTech) to 178 (printed XY 178.2 and ZX 178.4, ASTM D648 Method B at 66 psi, Stratasys); moulded 176.9[2][3] |
| HDT at 1.8 MPa°C | Not documented | 170-173 (printed XY 170.2 and ZX 172.6, ASTM D648 Method B at 264 psi); moulded 172.9[3] |
| Glass transition (Tg)°C | Not documented | 177 (moulded plaque, ASTM D7426 inflection point, Stratasys); 186 (DSC, 3DXTech)[3][2][19] |
| Continuous service temperature°C | Not documented | 170 long-term service on extruded PEI stock, converted from 338 °F; 200 short term[18] |
| Thermal expansion (CTE)µm/m·K | Not documented | 44.9 (printed XY, -50 to 80 °C, ASTM E831), falling to 31.4 over 80-160 °C; ZX gives 44.5 over -50 to 60 °C. Black pigment raises it to 51.9[3] |
| Flammability / UL 94 | Not documented | UL 94 V-0 at 1.5 mm on the base resin. Printed parts are tested to 14 CFR 25.853, BSS 7238 and 7239 and AITM 2.0007B and 3.0005 covering 60 s and 12 s vertical burn, 15 s horizontal burn, smoke density, toxic gas emission and OSU heat release[2][3] |
| Environment & Chemical | ||
| UV resistance1–5 | Not documented | Good — years with some colour shift. 1000 h of QUV cycling to ASTM G154 left printed ZX coupons at 55.5 MPa yield against 56.0 unexposed, with elongation and modulus unchanged[3] |
| Health & Safety | ||
| Fume toxicity1–5 | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised[20] | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised. None of these polymers was in the chamber study, and all are processed far above the temperatures it covered[20] |
| VOC emission rateµg/min | Up to 180 caprolactam, the dominant VOC from nylon and the largest single-VOC rate in the study[20] | Not documented |
| Ultrafine-particle emission rateparticles/min | ≈2 × 10⁸ median for nylon — low for particles despite the highest VOC mass measured[20] | Not documented |
| Hazardous species emitted | Caprolactam, at up to 180 µg/min from nylon filament[20] | Not documented |
| Ventilation / filtration requirement1–5 | Ventilated room or enclosure recommended[20] | Ventilated room or enclosure recommended[20] |
| Solvents & Solubility | ||
| Soluble in | Formic acid, phenol, m-cresol and hexafluoroisopropanol dissolve the matrix at 23 °C, leaving the fibre; laboratory reagents.[21] | Chlorinated hydrocarbons — dichloromethane and chloroform — are solvents for polyetherimide. Laboratory reagents.[22][23] |
| Softened or crazed by | Zinc chloride solutions stress-crack the nylon matrix, alcoholic calcium chloride dissolves it, mineral acids attack it.[21] | Acetone, MEK, benzene, toluene and butyl acetate craze or stress-crack it; alcohols, fuels and dilute acids do not.[23][22] |
| Solvent welding & smoothing agent | None — nylon's only solvents (formic acid, phenol, HFIP) degrade the part, and the fibre blocks surface flow anyway.[21] | Dichloromethane is the only welding route, and it is a controlled carcinogen rather than a workshop material.[22][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
- PA (Nylon) — material basics Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- ThermaX PEI 9085 Technical Data Sheet v4 3DXTech · 2026-08 · tds
- ULTEM 9085 Resin — FDM Material Data Sheet Stratasys · 2026-04 · tds
- 3DXTech product catalogue 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
- Kimya PEI-9085 Natural 2.85 mm 500 g igo3d · 2026-08 · vendor
- Fiberlogy PEI 9085 Natural, 1.75 mm / 500 g 3DJAKE · 2026-08 · vendor
- 3D4Makers product catalogue 3D4Makers · 2026-08 · vendor
- IEMAI 3D PEI 9085 3D Printing Filament — store page IEMAI 3D · 2026-08 · vendor
- Polymaker product catalogue Polymaker · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusament PEI 1010 Technical Datasheet v1.0 Prusa Polymers · 2024-09 · tds
- Prusament PEI 1010 — material page Prusa Polymers · 2026-08 · doc
- Fiberon PA6-CF20 Technical Data Sheet V1.1 Polymaker · 2024-12 · tds
- Composite materials filled with carbon, kevlar or glass Prusa Knowledge Base · 2026-08 · doc
- THERMAX PEI 9085 — product page (print recommendations) 3DXTech · 2026-08 · doc
- Wet Filament — signs, causes and drying Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- PolyMide CoPA Technical Data Sheet V5.4 (dry and wet status blocks) Polymaker · 2024-11 · tds
- Moisture Conditioning — effect on printed nylon properties Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- TECAPEI natural (PEI) — stock shape properties Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds
- ThermaX PEI 1010 Technical Data Sheet v4 3DXTech · 2026-08 · 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
- Ultramid Nylon Chemical Resistance guide (unmodified PA6 B27E and PA66 A27E) BASF · 2026-08 · tds
- Radel PPSU, Veradel PESU, Acudel modified PPSU Design Guide — environmental stress cracking tables Solvay Specialty Polymers · 2026-08 · tds
- Chemical resistance — resistance of Ensinger plastics to chemicals (DIN 50 014, 23/50) Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds