3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
PA aramid vs TPU 98A
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | Aramid-fibre nylonPA | TPU 98A / hard TPUFLEX |
|---|---|---|
| Market snapshot | ||
| Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots | Not documented | $94.99/kg median; $34.99–$149.99/kg across 3 dated product listings |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Base polymer / chemistry | Aramid-fibre reinforced polyamide[1] | Hard thermoplastic polyurethane at 98 Shore A to about 60 Shore D — the rigid end of the TPU range[2][3] |
| Densityg/cm³ | Not documented | 1.23 (Fillamentum Flexfill 98A); 1.2 (Extrudr FLEX HARD, ISO 2781)[2][3] |
| Typical priceUSD/kg | Not documented | 1 kg spools cluster near 150[4] |
| Price range across brandsUSD/kg | Not documented | 95–150 across brands; Proto-pasta Clear Rigid TPU 95, Push Plastic TPU 100A 150[5][4] |
| 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[6][7] | Available from several mainstream brands[4][5][3] |
| Spool sizes & diameters | Not documented | 1.75 and 2.85 mm; 0.5, 0.75 and 1 kg spools[5][4] |
| Typical applications | Not documented | Drive belts, wheels, snap-fits and bumpers that need to flex but hold shape under load[2] |
| Printing Parameters | ||
| Nozzle temperature°C | Not documented | 230–260 (Extrudr FLEX HARD)[3] |
| Bed temperature°C | Not documented | 50–90 (Extrudr FLEX HARD)[3] |
| Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5 | Enclosure required (passive) — as for every nylon[1] | Open frame is fine[3] |
| Part cooling fan | Not documented | 0–30 % (Extrudr FLEX HARD)[3] |
| Bed surface & adhesion aid | Not documented | PEI sheet or painter's tape; Polymaker warns TPU can over-stick and advises a glue stick as a release agent[8][9] |
| Maximum volumetric flow (mm³/s; see test conditions)mm³/s | Not documented | 4.6 (Extrudr FLEX HARD, stated max volumetric speed on a 0.4 mm nozzle)[3] |
| Warping tendency1–5 | Not documented | None[3] |
| Overall printing difficulty1–5 | Not documented | Easy — minor profile tuning; at this hardness the filament pushes like a rigid material[3] |
| Extruder requirement | Not documented | Bowden viable at this hardness — Extrudr rates FLEX HARD to 100 mm/s where its soft grades cap lower[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[10] | Brass fine indefinitely[3] |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Highly abrasive — fibre-reinforced nylon composite[10] | Non-abrasive[3] |
| 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[11] | Low[12] |
| Heat-creep / jam sensitivity1–5 | Not documented | Moderate — good heatbreak cooling needed[9] |
| Hotend requirement | Not documented | No special hot-end required, but a direct-drive extruder is (Simplify3D)[8] |
| Moisture Behaviour | ||
| Moisture absorption (hygroscopicity)1–5 | Very high (>2 %) — the polyamide matrix governs uptake[12] | Moderate — the TPU family absorbs readily; Extrudr specifies a 12 h dry at 60 °C for FLEX HARD[3][12] |
| Drying temperature & time | Not documented | 60 °C for 12 h (Extrudr FLEX HARD)[3] |
| Symptoms when wet | Not documented | Bubbling and popping at the nozzle, stringing and a rough surface[12] |
| 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[13][14] | Polymaker groups TPU with the highly hygroscopic materials; no dry-versus-conditioned figures are published[12] |
| Storage requirement | Not documented | Sealed with desiccant; often kept in a dryer during the print[12] |
| Mechanical Properties | ||
| Tensile strength (XY)MPa | Not documented | 53.7 at break (Fillamentum Flexfill 98A, DIN 53504)[2] |
| Elongation at break% | Not documented | 318 at break (Fillamentum Flexfill 98A, DIN 53504); Extrudr FLEX HARD 490 (ISO 527-2)[2][3] |
| Brittleness1–5 | Not documented | Very ductile — bends far before failing[2] |
| Hardness (scale-specific)Shore A / Shore D / Rockwell | Not documented | 98 Shore A and 60 Shore D (Fillamentum, ISO 7619-1); Extrudr FLEX HARD 58 Shore D (ISO 868)[2][3] |
| Creep resistance / sustained load1–5 | Not documented | Poor — no 98A creep test; a printed 95A TPU bar crept from 74.5 to 82.7 mm over 5 days at 1.25 kg[15] |
| Fatigue / repeated-flex resistance1–5 | Not documented | Excellent — living hinges viable[9] |
| Elasticity / flexibility1–5 | Not documented | Semi-flexible[2][3] |
| Wear resistance & friction | Not documented | Abrasion 23 mm³ (Fillamentum, ISO 4649 method A) and 26 mm³ (Extrudr FLEX HARD, ISO 4649-A) — the best abrasion figures in the group[2][3] |
| Thermal Properties | ||
| Melting point / Vicat°C | Not documented | 190–210 melting (Extrudr FLEX HARD, ISO 3146-C); Vicat A 140 (ISO 306)[3] |
| Environment & Chemical | ||
| UV resistance1–5 | Not documented | Good — years with some colour shift; Polymaker lists UV exposure among the conditions TPU withstands[9] |
| Chemical resistance | Not documented | Withstands industrial solvents and UV exposure (Polymaker)[9] |
| Food contact | Not documented | Not food safe without specific certification (Polymaker)[9] |
| Biodegradability / compostability | Not documented | Not biodegradable[9] |
| Recyclability | Not documented | Not accepted in household plastic collection[9] |
| Health & Safety | ||
| Fume toxicity1–5 | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised[16] | Low hazard — minimal VOC and particle emission; TPU was not among the nine filaments in the chamber study[16] |
| VOC emission rateµg/min | Up to 180 caprolactam, the dominant VOC from nylon and the largest single-VOC rate in the study[16] | Not documented |
| Ultrafine-particle emission rateparticles/min | ≈2 × 10⁸ median for nylon — low for particles despite the highest VOC mass measured[16] | Not documented |
| Hazardous species emitted | Caprolactam, at up to 180 µg/min from nylon filament[16] | Not documented |
| Ventilation / filtration requirement1–5 | Ventilated room or enclosure recommended[16] | Open a window / occasional ventilation[16] |
| Post-Processing | ||
| Sanding & machining | Not documented | Difficult to sand or smooth; Polymaker limits post-processing to trimming or tumbling[9] |
| Gluing & solvent welding | Not documented | Cyanoacrylate bonds TPU; no common solvent welds it[9] |
| Vapour / chemical smoothing | Not documented | No practical vapour smoothing[9] |
| Support material pairing | Not documented | Polymaker warns TPU supports are often very difficult to remove[9] |
| Dimensional accuracy & detail | Not documented | Tear strength 170 kN/m (Fillamentum, ISO 34-1) and 175 kN/m (Extrudr FLEX HARD, ISO 34-1B)[2][3] |
| Solvents & Solubility | ||
| Soluble in | Formic acid, phenol, m-cresol and hexafluoroisopropanol dissolve the matrix at 23 °C, leaving the fibre; laboratory reagents.[17] | DMF, DMSO, NMP and THF dissolve TPU; acetone, MEK and cyclohexanone are partial solvents. All laboratory reagents.[18] |
| Softened or crazed by | Zinc chloride solutions stress-crack the nylon matrix, alcoholic calcium chloride dissolves it, mineral acids attack it.[17] | Toluene and benzene swell it up to +50 % by weight at 23 °C; esters swell it severely; ethanol and IPA soften it.[18] |
| Solvent welding & smoothing agent | None — nylon's only solvents (formic acid, phenol, HFIP) degrade the part, and the fibre blocks surface flow anyway.[17] | None practical — the true solvents (DMF, THF, NMP) are laboratory reagents and leave the joint swollen and weak.[18] |
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
- Flexfill TPU 98A Technical Data Sheet Fillamentum · 2019-08 · tds
- Extrudr Product Catalogue (DURAPRO PA12 data block) Extrudr · 2025-03 · tds
- Push Plastic product catalogue Push Plastic · 2026-08 · vendor
- Proto-pasta product catalogue Proto-pasta · 2026-08 · vendor
- Polymaker product catalogue Polymaker · 2026-08 · vendor
- 3DXTech product catalogue 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
- Flexible (TPE/TPU) — Ultimate 3D Printing Materials Guide Simplify3D · 2026-08 · doc
- TPU — material basics Polymaker Wiki · 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
- 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
- BambuLab TPU 95A HF vs Qidi TPU 95A HF — results spreadsheet My Tech Fun (Igor Gaspar) · 2024-02 · test
- 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
- Elastollan — Chemical properties: swelling and chemical resistance BASF · 2026-08 · tds