3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
PA11 vs TPU 98A
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | PA11 (Nylon 11)PA | TPU 98A / hard TPUFLEX |
|---|---|---|
| Market snapshot | ||
| Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots | $194.98/kg median; $194.98–$194.98/kg across 1 dated product listings | $94.99/kg median; $34.99–$149.99/kg across 3 dated product listings |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Base polymer / chemistry | Polyamide 11, polymerised from castor-oil-derived aminoundecanoic acid — a bio-based nylon[1][2] | Hard thermoplastic polyurethane at 98 Shore A to about 60 Shore D — the rigid end of the TPU range[3][4] |
| Densityg/cm³ | 1.02 (ISO 1183)[1] | 1.23 (Fillamentum Flexfill 98A); 1.2 (Extrudr FLEX HARD, ISO 2781)[3][4] |
| Typical priceUSD/kg | Not documented | 1 kg spools cluster near 150[5] |
| Price range across brandsUSD/kg | Not documented | 95–150 across brands; Proto-pasta Clear Rigid TPU 95, Push Plastic TPU 100A 150[6][5] |
| Market availability1–5 | Niche, a handful of specialist brands[2] | Available from several mainstream brands[5][6][4] |
| Spool sizes & diameters | 1.75 mm; 1 kg spools[2] | 1.75 and 2.85 mm; 0.5, 0.75 and 1 kg spools[6][5] |
| Typical applications | Tough, chemically resistant functional parts; Prusa targets it at impact-loaded and vibration-loaded components[2] | Drive belts, wheels, snap-fits and bumpers that need to flex but hold shape under load[3] |
| Diameter tolerance± mm | ±0.02 (Prusament)[1] | Not documented |
| Printing Parameters | ||
| Nozzle temperature°C | 275 ± 10 (Prusament)[1] | 230–260 (Extrudr FLEX HARD)[4] |
| Bed temperature°C | 100 ± 10 (Prusament)[1] | 50–90 (Extrudr FLEX HARD)[4] |
| Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5 | Enclosure required (passive) — Prusament specifies a 55 ± 5 °C chamber[1] | Open frame is fine[4] |
| Recommended chamber temperature°C | 55 ± 5 (Prusament)[1] | Not documented |
| Part cooling fan | Not documented | 0–30 % (Extrudr FLEX HARD)[4] |
| 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[7][8] |
| 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)[4] |
| Warping tendency1–5 | Not documented | None[4] |
| Overall printing difficulty1–5 | Advanced — enclosure, hardware upgrades, tuning[1][9] | Easy — minor profile tuning; at this hardness the filament pushes like a rigid material[4] |
| Extruder requirement | Prusa printed its test specimens with a high-flow CHT nozzle[1] | Bowden viable at this hardness — Extrudr rates FLEX HARD to 100 mm/s where its soft grades cap lower[4] |
| Hardware Wear & Reliability | ||
| Nozzle hardness required1–4 | Brass fine indefinitely for unfilled grades[9] | Brass fine indefinitely[4] |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Non-abrasive when unfilled[9] | Non-abrasive[4] |
| Nozzle clog risk1–5 | High — jams from moisture, heat creep or particles[10] | Low[10] |
| Heat-creep / jam sensitivity1–5 | Not documented | Moderate — good heatbreak cooling needed[8] |
| Hotend requirement | Not documented | No special hot-end required, but a direct-drive extruder is (Simplify3D)[7] |
| 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][10] | Moderate — the TPU family absorbs readily; Extrudr specifies a 12 h dry at 60 °C for FLEX HARD[4][10] |
| Equilibrium moisture content at ~50 % RH% | 0.26 after 24 h and 0.46 after 7 days (Prusa Polymers method)[1] | Not documented |
| Drying temperature & time | Not documented | 60 °C for 12 h (Extrudr FLEX HARD)[4] |
| Symptoms when wet | Popping and cracking during extrusion, then hard-to-diagnose defects[11] | Bubbling and popping at the nozzle, stringing and a rough surface[10] |
| 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[11][12] | Polymaker groups TPU with the highly hygroscopic materials; no dry-versus-conditioned figures are published[10] |
| Storage requirement | Sealed below 20 % RH with desiccant[10] | Sealed with desiccant; often kept in a dryer during the print[10] |
| 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] | 53.7 at break (Fillamentum Flexfill 98A, DIN 53504)[3] |
| Young's modulusMPa | 1200 printed, both orientations, ISO 527-1[1] | Not documented |
| Elongation at break% | 5.6 ± 0.1 at yield, printed, ISO 527-1[1] | 318 at break (Fillamentum Flexfill 98A, DIN 53504); Extrudr FLEX HARD 490 (ISO 527-2)[3][4] |
| 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] | 98 Shore A and 60 Shore D (Fillamentum, ISO 7619-1); Extrudr FLEX HARD 58 Shore D (ISO 868)[3][4] |
| 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[13] |
| Fatigue / repeated-flex resistance1–5 | Excellent — living hinges viable[9] | Excellent — living hinges viable[8] |
| Elasticity / flexibility1–5 | Semi-flexible[1] | Semi-flexible[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] | Not documented |
| 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[3][4] |
| 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 | 190–210 melting (Extrudr FLEX HARD, ISO 3146-C); Vicat A 140 (ISO 306)[4] |
| Environment & Chemical | ||
| UV resistance1–5 | Not documented | Good — years with some colour shift; Polymaker lists UV exposure among the conditions TPU withstands[8] |
| Chemical resistance | Not documented | Withstands industrial solvents and UV exposure (Polymaker)[8] |
| Water / humidity resistance in service1–5 | Absorbs water, properties shift[11] | Not documented |
| Food contact | Not documented | Not food safe without specific certification (Polymaker)[8] |
| Biodegradability / compostability | Bio-based — the monomer comes from castor oil[2] | Not biodegradable[8] |
| Recyclability | Not documented | Not accepted in household plastic collection[8] |
| Health & Safety | ||
| Fume toxicity1–5 | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised[14] | Low hazard — minimal VOC and particle emission; TPU was not among the nine filaments in the chamber study[14] |
| 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[14] | Not documented |
| Ultrafine-particle emission rateparticles/min | ≈2 × 10⁸ median — low for ultrafine particles despite the highest VOC mass of any filament tested[14] | 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[14] | Not documented |
| Ventilation / filtration requirement1–5 | Ventilated room or enclosure recommended[14] | Open a window / occasional ventilation[14] |
| Post-Processing | ||
| Sanding & machining | Not documented | Difficult to sand or smooth; Polymaker limits post-processing to trimming or tumbling[8] |
| Gluing & solvent welding | Not documented | Cyanoacrylate bonds TPU; no common solvent welds it[8] |
| Vapour / chemical smoothing | Not documented | No practical vapour smoothing[8] |
| Support material pairing | Not documented | Polymaker warns TPU supports are often very difficult to remove[8] |
| Dimensional accuracy & detail | Not documented | Tear strength 170 kN/m (Fillamentum, ISO 34-1) and 175 kN/m (Extrudr FLEX HARD, ISO 34-1B)[3][4] |
| Solvents & Solubility | ||
| Soluble in | Dissolved at 23 °C by formic acid, phenol, m-cresol, 96 % sulphuric acid or hexafluoroisopropanol — all laboratory reagents.[15][16] | DMF, DMSO, NMP and THF dissolve TPU; acetone, MEK and cyclohexanone are partial solvents. All laboratory reagents.[17] |
| Softened or crazed by | Mineral acids, oxidants, halogens and zinc chloride solutions attack the amide bond; ordinary solvents do not (BASF, PA6/66).[15] | Toluene and benzene swell it up to +50 % by weight at 23 °C; esters swell it severely; ethanol and IPA soften it.[17] |
| Solvent welding & smoothing agent | None — nylon's only solvents are formic acid, phenol and HFIP, all of which degrade the part they wet.[15] | None practical — the true solvents (DMF, THF, NMP) are laboratory reagents and leave the joint swollen and weak.[17] |
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
- 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
- Flexible (TPE/TPU) — Ultimate 3D Printing Materials Guide Simplify3D · 2026-08 · doc
- TPU — material basics Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- PA (Nylon) — material basics Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Wet Filament — signs, causes and drying Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- 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
- 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