3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
PA12-GF vs PMMA
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | Glass-fibre PA12 (PA12-GF)PA | PMMA (acrylic)ENGINEERING |
|---|---|---|
| Market snapshot | ||
| Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots | $130.67/kg median; $46.00–$140.18/kg across 3 dated product listings | $49.99/kg median; $49.99–$49.99/kg across 1 dated product listings |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Base polymer / chemistry | PA12 reinforced with chopped glass fibre — 3DXTech's grade is nominally 30 wt%[1] | Poly(methyl methacrylate) — acrylic, sold for 3D printing as a transparent glass substitute[2] |
| Densityg/cm³ | 1.23 (ISO 1183)[1] | Not documented |
| Typical priceUSD/kg | 1 kg-equivalent spools span 46–140; the middle of the market is about 88[3][4][5] | 1 kg spools cluster near 50[6] |
| Price range across brandsUSD/kg | 46–140 across brands; IEMAI 3D 46, 3DXTech 131 at 750 g and 130 at 2 kg, PrimaCreator NylonPower Glass Fiber 140 at 500 g[3][4][5] | 50 at Push Plastic's 1 kg listing; 3 kg spools run the same per kilogram[6] |
| Market availability1–5 | Available from several mainstream brands[3][4] | Special order, 1–2 makers worldwide[6] |
| Spool sizes & diameters | 1.75 and 2.85 mm; 0.5, 0.75 and 2 kg spools[3][5] | 1.75 and 2.85 mm; 1 and 3 kg spools[6] |
| Typical applications | Stiff, humidity-stable structural parts — the glass gives the modulus, the PA12 matrix limits the moisture drift[1][7] | Transparent covers and light guides where PC's yellowing or cost rules it out[2] |
| Printing Parameters | ||
| Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5 | Enclosure required (passive)[8] | Not documented |
| Bed surface & adhesion aid | PEI sheet with a glue stick, or a dedicated adhesive such as Magigoo[9][8] | Not documented |
| Bed-adhesion difficulty1–5 | Needs a specific surface plus adhesive[9] | Not documented |
| Stringing / oozing tendency1–5 | Moderate — retraction tuning needed[8] | Not documented |
| Overall printing difficulty1–5 | Advanced — enclosure, hardware upgrades, tuning[8] | Not documented |
| Hardware Wear & Reliability | ||
| Nozzle hardness required1–4 | Hardened steel required — no nozzle-life figure is published for a PA12-GF30 grade; Polymaker measures about 9 h of brass nozzle life on its comparable fibre-filled nylons[10] | Not documented |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Highly abrasive — standard GF composite[10] | Not documented |
| Nozzle clog risk1–5 | High — jams from moisture, heat creep or particles[11] | Not documented |
| Heat-creep / jam sensitivity1–5 | Moderate — good heatbreak cooling needed[9] | Not documented |
| Hotend requirement | May require an all-metal hot end (Simplify3D)[9] | Not documented |
| Moisture Behaviour | ||
| Moisture absorption (hygroscopicity)1–5 | High (0.8–2 %) — the PA12 matrix takes up far less than PA6, on the evidence of Polymaker's 1.5 % for PA12-CF10 against 3.33 % for PA6-GF25[12][13] | Not documented |
| Effect of moisture on strength | Polymaker's PA12 grades change little between wet and dry, unlike PA6; the CoPA dry-to-wet blocks show the PA6-type response[7][14] | Not documented |
| Storage requirement | Sealed below 20 % RH with desiccant[11] | Not documented |
| Hydrolysis at melt temperature | Polymaker specifies an 80–100 °C dry and storage below 20 % RH; no molecular-weight loss figure is published, and the wet data it does publish is conditioning rather than melt hydrolysis[10][14] | Not documented |
| Mechanical Properties | ||
| Tensile strength (XY)MPa | 82 at break (printed XY, ISO 527)[1] | Not documented |
| Young's modulusMPa | 7800 (printed XY, ISO 527)[1] | Not documented |
| Elongation at break% | 4.5 at break (printed XY, ISO 527) — nearly double the 2.4 % of Polymaker's PA6-GF25[1][13] | Not documented |
| Flexural strengthMPa | 94 (printed XY, ISO 178)[1] | Not documented |
| Flexural modulusMPa | 7550 (printed XY, ISO 178)[1] | Not documented |
| Brittleness1–5 | Moderate[1] | Not documented |
| Hardness (scale-specific)Shore A / Shore D / Rockwell | Rockwell M88 / R117 on extruded PA66-GF30 stock (ASTM D785); no figure is published for a glass-fibre PA12 filament[15] | Not documented |
| Creep resistance / sustained load1–5 | Good. Ensinger lists high creep resistance for extruded PA66-GF30 stock, and the PA12 matrix absorbs far less water than PA6, so a PA12-GF part holds load better in a humid environment[15][8] | Not documented |
| Fatigue / repeated-flex resistance1–5 | Good. Ensinger lists high fatigue strength as a headline property of extruded PA66-GF30 stock[15] | Not documented |
| Elasticity / flexibility1–5 | Rigid[1] | Not documented |
| Thermal Properties | ||
| Thermal expansion (CTE)µm/m·K | 48.6 on extruded PA66-GF30 stock (ASTM D696; source states 2.7e-5 in/in/°F) — no figure is published for a glass-fibre PA12 filament[15] | Not documented |
| Flammability / UL 94 | Flammable; no UL 94 rating published for the grades surveyed[10] | Not documented |
| Environment & Chemical | ||
| UV resistance1–5 | Months outdoors before embrittlement — unstabilised polyamide yellows under UV[8] | Not documented |
| Chemical resistance | Withstands oils, fuels and alkalis[8] | Not documented |
| Water / humidity resistance in service1–5 | Good — minor absorption relative to PA6-based composites[7] | Not documented |
| Food contact | Not food-contact certified as filament[8] | Not documented |
| Biodegradability / compostability | Not biodegradable[8] | Not documented |
| Recyclability | Not accepted in household plastic collection[8] | Not documented |
| Electrical & ESD properties | Surface resistance above 10¹³ ohm/sq — insulating (ASTM D257)[1] | Not documented |
| Health & Safety | ||
| Fume toxicity1–5 | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised[16] | Not documented |
| 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] | Not documented |
| Dust & fibre handling hazard | Glass fibre is bound in the matrix; avoid inhaling sanding dust[1] | Not documented |
| Post-Processing | ||
| Sanding & machining | Sands poorly — gums rather than powders[9] | Not documented |
| Gluing & solvent welding | Cyanoacrylate; no common solvent welds polyamide[9] | Not documented |
| Vapour / chemical smoothing | No practical vapour smoothing[9] | Not documented |
| Solvents & Solubility | ||
| Soluble in | Formic acid, phenol, m-cresol and hexafluoroisopropanol dissolve the matrix at 23 °C, leaving the fibre; laboratory reagents.[17] | Acetone, MEK, ethyl and butyl acetate, THF, chloroform and carbon tetrachloride dissolve it; the last two are 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] | Alcohols, aliphatic hydrocarbons, oils and phthalate plasticisers craze it, and the threshold falls as stress rises.[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] | Dichloromethane acrylic cement (IPS Weld-On 3): 2–5 min soak, 17.2 MPa lap shear at one week. Controlled carcinogen.[19] |
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
- FibreX PA12-GF30 Technical Data Sheet v1.0 3DXTech · 2026-08 · tds
- PMMA Filament 1.75mm 1kg — product page Push Plastic · 2026-08 · vendor
- 3DXTech product catalogue 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
- IEMAI 3D GF-PA12 3D Printing Filament — store page IEMAI 3D · 2026-08 · vendor
- PrimaCreator SELECT NylonPower Glass Fiber product page PrimaCreator · 2026-08 · vendor
- Push Plastic product catalogue Push Plastic · 2026-08 · vendor
- Moisture Conditioning — effect on printed nylon properties Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- PA (Nylon) — material basics Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Nylon — Ultimate 3D Printing Materials Guide Simplify3D · 2026-08 · doc
- Fiberon PA6-CF20 Technical Data Sheet V1.1 Polymaker · 2024-12 · tds
- Wet Filament — signs, causes and drying Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Fiberon PA12-CF10 Technical Data Sheet V1.1 Polymaker · 2025-02 · tds
- Fiberon PA6-GF25 Technical Data Sheet V1.1 Polymaker · 2024-12 · tds
- PolyMide CoPA Technical Data Sheet V5.4 (dry and wet status blocks) Polymaker · 2024-11 · tds
- TECAMID 66 GF30 black (PA66-GF30) — stock shape properties Ensinger · 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
- Chemical resistance of PMMA products Mitsubishi Chemical (Acrypet) · 2026-08 · tds
- Weld-On 3 Acrylic Plastic Cement — technical data sheet (shipped as dichloromethane) IPS Corporation · 2002-07 · tds