3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
PA aramid vs POM
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | Aramid-fibre nylonPA | POM (acetal)ENGINEERING |
|---|---|---|
| Market snapshot | ||
| Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots | Not documented | Not documented |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Base polymer / chemistry | Aramid-fibre reinforced polyamide[1] | Polyoxymethylene, normally the copolymer POM-C. Apium's filament grade is POM-C with antistatic additives; no unfilled POM filament was found on sale[2][3] |
| Densityg/cm³ | Not documented | 1.41 (extruded POM-C stock)[2] |
| 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[4][5] | Special order, 1-2 makers worldwide — Apium sells a POM-C ESD filament through its own shop and states its printers are the only ones able to process POM-C; no POM filament appears in the 3DJAKE or igo3d product sitemaps, at MatterHackers or at Printed Solid[3][6][7][8] |
| Typical applications | Not documented | Gears, bushings, bearings, conveyor and food-machinery parts; Apium markets its POM-C ESD grade for semiconductor insulators, aerospace fasteners and sliding parts[2][3] |
| Printing Parameters | ||
| Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5 | Enclosure required (passive) — as for every nylon[1] | Not documented |
| Extruder requirement | Not documented | Apium states that the adaptive heating system on its industrial machines is what makes POM-C printable, and that no other 3D printer can process it[3] |
| 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[9] | Not documented |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Highly abrasive — fibre-reinforced nylon composite[9] | Not documented |
| 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[10] | Not documented |
| Moisture Behaviour | ||
| Moisture absorption (hygroscopicity)1–5 | Very high (>2 %) — the polyamide matrix governs uptake[11] | Low (0.1-0.3 %) — extruded POM-C stock takes up 0.18 % in 24 h and 0.80 % at saturation (ASTM D570)[2] |
| 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[12][13] | Not documented |
| Mechanical Properties | ||
| Tensile strength (XY)MPa | Not documented | 66.9 at break and 64.1 at yield (extruded POM-C stock, ASTM D638; converted from 9700 and 9300 psi)[2] |
| Young's modulusMPa | Not documented | 2275 (extruded POM-C stock, ASTM D638; converted from 330,000 psi)[2] |
| Elongation at break% | Not documented | 40 at break and 9 at yield (extruded POM-C stock, ASTM D638)[2] |
| Flexural strengthMPa | Not documented | 89.6 (extruded POM-C stock, ASTM D790; converted from 13,000 psi)[2] |
| Flexural modulusMPa | Not documented | 2758 (extruded POM-C stock, ASTM D790; converted from 400,000 psi)[2] |
| Other impact data | Not documented | Izod 53 J/m on extruded POM-C stock, converted from 1.0 ft-lb/in[2] |
| Brittleness1–5 | Not documented | Tough — absorbs impact, yields before breaking; extruded stock elongates 40 % before failing. No printed figure is published[2] |
| Hardness (scale-specific)Shore A / Shore D / Rockwell | Not documented | Rockwell 86 (and R120) — the source names only the R scale on extruded POM-C stock (ASTM D785)[2] |
| Wear resistance & friction | Not documented | Wear factor 65e-10 in3*min/(ft*lb*h) and a dynamic coefficient of friction of 0.21 at 40 psi and 50 fpm (ASTM D3702, extruded stock) — the properties that make acetal the default gear and bushing plastic; Apium lists good sliding properties as the reason for its grade[2][3] |
| Thermal Properties | ||
| HDT at 0.45 MPa°C | Not documented | 158 (extruded POM-C stock, ASTM D648 at 66 psi; converted from 316 °F)[2] |
| HDT at 1.8 MPa°C | Not documented | 110 (extruded POM-C stock, ASTM D648 at 264 psi; converted from 230 °F)[2] |
| Melting point / Vicat°C | Not documented | 165 melting (extruded POM-C stock; converted from 329 °F)[2] |
| Continuous service temperature°C | Not documented | 91 long term and 141 intermittent (extruded POM-C stock; converted from 195 °F and 285 °F)[2] |
| Thermal expansion (CTE)µm/m·K | Not documented | 84.6 (extruded POM-C stock, ASTM D696; source states 4.7e-5 in/in/°F)[2] |
| Flammability / UL 94 | Not documented | UL 94 HB on extruded POM-C stock[2] |
| Environment & Chemical | ||
| Chemical resistance | Not documented | Good chemical resistance, particularly to bases; Apium lists resistance to bases as a headline property[2][3] |
| Water / humidity resistance in service1–5 | Not documented | Good — minor absorption; 0.80 % water at saturation (ASTM D570, extruded stock)[2] |
| Electrical & ESD properties | Not documented | Volume resistance 1e14 ohm-cm, dielectric strength 500 V/mil and dielectric constant 3.7 at 60 Hz on extruded stock (ASTM D257, D149, D150); Apium's filament grade adds antistatic agents[2][3] |
| Health & Safety | ||
| Fume toxicity1–5 | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised[14] | Not documented |
| VOC emission rateµg/min | Up to 180 caprolactam, the dominant VOC from nylon and the largest single-VOC rate in the study[14] | Not documented |
| Ultrafine-particle emission rateparticles/min | ≈2 × 10⁸ median for nylon — low for particles despite the highest VOC mass measured[14] | Not documented |
| Hazardous species emitted | Caprolactam, at up to 180 µg/min from nylon filament[14] | Not documented |
| Ventilation / filtration requirement1–5 | Ventilated room or enclosure recommended[14] | Not documented |
| Post-Processing | ||
| Sanding & machining | Not documented | Easy to machine — Ensinger lists machinability as a headline property of POM-C stock[2] |
| Solvents & Solubility | ||
| Soluble in | Formic acid, phenol, m-cresol and hexafluoroisopropanol dissolve the matrix at 23 °C, leaving the fibre; laboratory reagents.[15] | Hexafluoroisopropanol dissolves it at room temperature; NMP and DMF only when hot. Laboratory reagents.[16] |
| Softened or crazed by | Zinc chloride solutions stress-crack the nylon matrix, alcoholic calcium chloride dissolves it, mineral acids attack it.[15] | Acids, oxidants, halogens and hot concentrated zinc chloride attack it; alcohols, ketones and esters do not.[16][17] |
| Solvent welding & smoothing agent | None — nylon's only solvents (formic acid, phenol, HFIP) degrade the part, and the fibre blocks surface flow anyway.[15] | None — no solvent softens POM below its melting point, which is why it is bolted or heat-welded rather than glued.[16] |
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
- TECAFORM AH natural (POM-C) — stock shape properties Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds
- POM-C ESD 3D printing — material page Apium 3D Technologies · 2026-08 · doc
- Polymaker product catalogue Polymaker · 2026-08 · vendor
- 3DXTech product catalogue 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
- 3DJAKE product catalogue 3DJAKE · 2026-08 · vendor
- igo3d product sitemap (17452 product URLs) igo3d · 2026-08 · vendor
- Printed Solid product catalogue Printed Solid · 2026-08 · vendor
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Resistance of Ultramid, Ultraform and Ultradur to chemicals (TI-KTU/AS-28 e) BASF · 2000-10 · tds
- Chemical resistance — resistance of Ensinger plastics to chemicals (DIN 50 014, 23/50) Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds