3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
PA11 vs TPU 85A
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | PA11 (Nylon 11)PA | TPU 85AFLEX |
|---|---|---|
| Market snapshot | ||
| Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots | $194.98/kg median; $194.98–$194.98/kg across 1 dated product listings | $89.89/kg median; $31.99–$106.05/kg across 6 dated product listings |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Base polymer / chemistry | Polyamide 11, polymerised from castor-oil-derived aminoundecanoic acid — a bio-based nylon[1][2] | Soft thermoplastic polyurethane at 82–85 Shore A[3][4][5] |
| Densityg/cm³ | 1.02 (ISO 1183)[1] | 1.11 (BASF Ultrafuse 85A) to 1.19 (NinjaFlex 85A), ISO 1183 / ASTM D792[5][3] |
| Typical priceUSD/kg | Not documented | 1 kg-equivalent spools span 32–106; the middle of the market is about 90[6][7][3] |
| Price range across brandsUSD/kg | Not documented | 32–106 across brands; Siraya Tech Flex TPU 85A 32 at 1 kg, add:north TPU Pro Matte 85A 72, Recreus Filaflex 82A 90 at 500 g, Proto-pasta Clear Flexible TPU 90, 3DXTech 3DXFLEX 85A 96, NinjaTek NinjaFlex 106[8][6][7][9][3] |
| Market availability1–5 | Niche, a handful of specialist brands[2] | Available from several mainstream brands[6][8] |
| Spool sizes & diameters | 1.75 mm; 1 kg spools[2] | 1.75, 2.85 and 3 mm; 0.5, 1 and 2 kg spools[6][8][3] |
| Typical applications | Tough, chemically resistant functional parts; Prusa targets it at impact-loaded and vibration-loaded components[2] | Soft-touch grips, seals, wearables and anything that must compress and rebound[3][4] |
| Diameter tolerance± mm | ±0.02 (Prusament)[1] | Not documented |
| Printing Parameters | ||
| Nozzle temperature°C | 275 ± 10 (Prusament)[1] | 200–220 (BASF Ultrafuse 85A, 210 typical)[5] |
| Bed temperature°C | 100 ± 10 (Prusament)[1] | 40 (BASF Ultrafuse 85A)[5] |
| Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5 | Enclosure required (passive) — Prusament specifies a 55 ± 5 °C chamber[1] | Open frame is fine[5] |
| Recommended chamber temperature°C | 55 ± 5 (Prusament)[1] | Not documented |
| Bed surface & adhesion aid | PA nylon sheet (Prusament)[1] | PEI sheet or painter's tape; Polymaker warns TPU can over-stick and advises a glue stick as a release agent[10][11] |
| Maximum volumetric flow (mm³/s; see test conditions)mm³/s | Not documented | 1.2–3.2 at the 15–40 mm/s BASF specifies on a 0.4 mm nozzle at 0.2 mm layer[5] |
| Warping tendency1–5 | Not documented | None[5] |
| Bed-adhesion difficulty1–5 | Not documented | Sticks to anything — Recreus states its 82A grade has excellent bed adhesion without a heated bed or additives[4] |
| Stringing / oozing tendency1–5 | Not documented | High — drying plus tuning needed[12][11] |
| Overall printing difficulty1–5 | Advanced — enclosure, hardware upgrades, tuning[1][13] | Advanced — enclosure, hardware upgrades, tuning; at this hardness the filament will not push through a Bowden tube[3][4] |
| Extruder requirement | Prusa printed its test specimens with a high-flow CHT nozzle[1] | Direct drive only. NinjaTek calls its 85A grade ideal for direct-drive extruders and Recreus specifies direct-drive printers for 82A; BASF caps print speed at 15–40 mm/s with a nozzle of 0.4 mm or larger[3][4][5] |
| Hardware Wear & Reliability | ||
| Nozzle hardness required1–4 | Brass fine indefinitely for unfilled grades[13] | Brass fine indefinitely[14] |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Non-abrasive when unfilled[13] | Non-abrasive[14] |
| Nozzle clog risk1–5 | High — jams from moisture, heat creep or particles[12] | High — jams from moisture, heat creep or particles[12][11] |
| Heat-creep / jam sensitivity1–5 | Not documented | Very high — softens in the cold zone readily; soft filament buckles between the drive gear and the melt zone[11][3] |
| Hotend requirement | Not documented | No special hot-end required, but a direct-drive extruder is (Simplify3D)[10] |
| Moisture Behaviour | ||
| Moisture absorption (hygroscopicity)1–5 | High (0.8–2 %) — Prusa measures 0.46 % after 7 days at 22 % RH, but PA11 sits between PA12 and PA6 in the family[1][12] | Moderate — NinjaTek measures 0.22 % in 24 h (ASTM D570) and BASF specifies a 70 °C dry for at least 5 h[3][5] |
| Equilibrium moisture content at ~50 % RH% | 0.26 after 24 h and 0.46 after 7 days (Prusa Polymers method)[1] | 0.22 after 24 h water immersion (NinjaFlex 85A, ASTM D570) — an immersion figure, not an equilibrium moisture content at 50 % RH[3] |
| Drying temperature & time | Not documented | 70 °C for at least 5 h in a hot-air dryer or vacuum oven (BASF)[5] |
| Symptoms when wet | Popping and cracking during extrusion, then hard-to-diagnose defects[15] | Bubbling and popping at the nozzle, stringing and a rough surface[12] |
| Effect of moisture on strength | Prusa publishes no dry-versus-conditioned columns; the CoPA reference shows the PA-family response — stiffness and strength fall sharply, impact and elongation rise[15][16] | Polymaker groups TPU with the highly hygroscopic materials; wet TPU prints with poor layer adhesion and weak, brittle layers[12] |
| Storage requirement | Sealed below 20 % RH with desiccant[12] | Sealed with desiccant; often kept in a dryer during the print[12] |
| Mechanical Properties | ||
| Tensile strength (XY)MPa | 38.3 ± 0.8 printed horizontal and 39.5 ± 0.5 printed vertical at yield, ISO 527-1[1] | 26 ultimate (NinjaFlex 85A, ASTM D638)[3] |
| Young's modulusMPa | 1200 printed, both orientations, ISO 527-1[1] | 12 (NinjaFlex 85A, ASTM D638) — two orders of magnitude below any rigid filament; NinjaTek's 95A Cheetah reaches 26 by the same method[3][17] |
| Elongation at break% | 5.6 ± 0.1 at yield, printed, ISO 527-1[1] | 650 at break (Filaflex 82A) and 660 (NinjaFlex 85A); BASF measures 600 in XY and 320 in ZX[4][3][5] |
| Flexural modulusMPa | 1100 printed horizontal and 1000 printed vertical, ISO 178[1] | Not documented |
| Charpy impact, notchedkJ/m² | 12.9 ± 2.1 printed horizontal and 11.7 ± 1.2 printed vertical, ISO 179-1 notched[1] | Not documented |
| Layer adhesion / Z tensileMPa | 32 ± 1 (Prusa Polymers interlayer adhesion test) — the highest interlayer figure Prusa publishes for any of its filaments[1] | Not documented |
| Brittleness1–5 | Tough — absorbs impact, yields before breaking[1] | Very ductile — bends far before failing[3] |
| Hardness (scale-specific)Shore A / Shore D / Rockwell | 70 Shore D (Prusa Polymers method)[1] | 29 Shore D / 85 Shore A (BASF Ultrafuse 85A, ISO 7619-1); 85 Shore A (NinjaFlex, ASTM D2240); 82 A nominal for Filaflex[3][5][4] |
| Creep resistance / sustained load1–5 | Not documented | Poor — no 85A creep test; a printed 95A TPU bar crept from 74.5 to 82.7 mm over 5 days at 1.25 kg, and softer grades creep more[18] |
| Fatigue / repeated-flex resistance1–5 | Excellent — living hinges viable[13] | Excellent — living hinges viable[11] |
| Elasticity / flexibility1–5 | Semi-flexible[1] | Rubbery / highly elastic[3][4] |
| Z strength as % of XY% | 84 — Prusa publishes a tensile anisotropy coefficient of 0.84, the ratio of Z to XY tensile strength[1] | 53 — BASF measures 320 % elongation at break in ZX against 600 % in XY[5] |
| Wear resistance & friction | Not documented | Abrasion 0.08 g mass loss over 10 000 cycles (NinjaFlex, ASTM D4060); 82 mm³ (BASF, ISO 4649)[3][5] |
| Thermal Properties | ||
| HDT at 0.45 MPa°C | 58.7 (ISO 75, 0.45 MPa)[1] | Not documented |
| HDT at 1.8 MPa°C | 49.9 (ISO 75, 1.8 MPa)[1] | Not documented |
| Melting point / Vicat°C | Not documented | 216 melting (NinjaFlex 85A, DSC)[3] |
| Environment & Chemical | ||
| UV resistance1–5 | Not documented | Good — years with some colour shift; Polymaker lists UV exposure among the conditions TPU withstands[11] |
| Chemical resistance | Not documented | Withstands industrial solvents and UV exposure (Polymaker)[11] |
| Water / humidity resistance in service1–5 | Absorbs water, properties shift[15] | Not documented |
| Food contact | Not documented | Not food safe without specific certification (Polymaker)[11] |
| Biodegradability / compostability | Bio-based — the monomer comes from castor oil[2] | Not biodegradable[11] |
| Recyclability | Not documented | Not accepted in household plastic collection[11] |
| Health & Safety | ||
| Fume toxicity1–5 | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised[19] | Low hazard — minimal VOC and particle emission; TPU was not among the nine filaments in the chamber study[19] |
| VOC emission rateµg/min | Up to 180 caprolactam, the dominant VOC from nylon; total VOC reached nearly 200 µg/min, the highest of the nine filaments tested[19] | Not documented |
| Ultrafine-particle emission rateparticles/min | ≈2 × 10⁸ median — low for ultrafine particles despite the highest VOC mass of any filament tested[19] | Not documented |
| Hazardous species emitted | Caprolactam, at up to 180 µg/min from nylon filament — the largest single-VOC emission rate measured in the study[19] | Not documented |
| Ventilation / filtration requirement1–5 | Ventilated room or enclosure recommended[19] | Open a window / occasional ventilation[19] |
| Post-Processing | ||
| Sanding & machining | Not documented | Difficult to sand or smooth; Polymaker limits post-processing to trimming or tumbling[11] |
| Gluing & solvent welding | Not documented | Cyanoacrylate bonds TPU; no common solvent welds it[11] |
| Vapour / chemical smoothing | Not documented | No practical vapour smoothing[11] |
| Support material pairing | Not documented | Polymaker warns TPU supports are often very difficult to remove[11] |
| Solvents & Solubility | ||
| Soluble in | Dissolved at 23 °C by formic acid, phenol, m-cresol, 96 % sulphuric acid or hexafluoroisopropanol — all laboratory reagents.[20][21] | DMF, DMSO, NMP and THF dissolve TPU; acetone, MEK and cyclohexanone are partial solvents. All laboratory reagents.[22] |
| Softened or crazed by | Mineral acids, oxidants, halogens and zinc chloride solutions attack the amide bond; ordinary solvents do not (BASF, PA6/66).[20] | Toluene and benzene swell it up to +50 % by weight at 23 °C; esters swell it severely; ethanol and IPA soften it.[22] |
| Solvent welding & smoothing agent | None — nylon's only solvents are formic acid, phenol and HFIP, all of which degrade the part they wet.[20] | None practical — the true solvents (DMF, THF, NMP) are laboratory reagents and leave the joint swollen and weak.[22] |
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
- Prusament PA11 Technical Datasheet v1.0 Prusa Polymers · 2026-07 · tds
- Prusament PA11 — material page Prusa Polymers · 2026-08 · doc
- NinjaFlex 85A Technical Specifications NinjaTek · 2026-08 · tds
- Filaflex 82A product page (Shore hardness and elongation) Recreus · 2026-08 · vendor
- Ultrafuse TPU 85A Technical Data Sheet (Version 3.0) BASF Forward AM · 2022-08 · tds
- 3DXTech product catalogue 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
- Siraya Tech Flex TPU 85A Filament — product page Siraya Tech · 2026-08 · vendor
- Proto-pasta product catalogue Proto-pasta · 2026-08 · vendor
- add:north TPU Pro Matte 85A product page add:north · 2026-08 · vendor
- Flexible (TPE/TPU) — Ultimate 3D Printing Materials Guide Simplify3D · 2026-08 · doc
- TPU — material basics Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Wet Filament — signs, causes and drying Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- PA (Nylon) — material basics Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Extrudr Product Catalogue (DURAPRO PA12 data block) Extrudr · 2025-03 · 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
- NinjaTek technical specs comparison chart (Cheetah, NinjaFlex, Armadillo, Alloy 910, Nylon 645) NinjaTek · 2026-08 · tds
- 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
- Chemical resistance — resistance of Ensinger plastics to chemicals (DIN 50 014, 23/50) Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds
- Elastollan — Chemical properties: swelling and chemical resistance BASF · 2026-08 · tds