3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
PA12 vs PEBA
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | PA12 (Nylon 12)PA | PEBA (polyether block amide)FLEX |
|---|---|---|
| Market snapshot | ||
| Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots | $64.33/kg median; $36.00–$170.67/kg across 3 dated product listings | $60.99/kg median; $60.99–$60.99/kg across 1 dated product listings |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Base polymer / chemistry | Polyamide 12 — the longest-chain common nylon, with the fewest amide groups per unit mass and so the least moisture uptake[1][2] | Polyether block amide: rigid polyamide and flexible polyether blocks.[3] |
| Densityg/cm³ | 1.01 specific gravity (Stratasys FDM Nylon 12, ASTM D792)[4] | 1.01 g/cm³ (GB/T 1033; eSUN manufacturer data)[3] |
| Typical priceUSD/kg | 1 kg-equivalent spools span 36–171; the middle of the market is about 64[5][6] | Not documented |
| Price range across brandsUSD/kg | 36–171 across brands; IEMAI 3D 36, Fiberlogy 64 at 3DJake, 3DXTech AmideX Nylon 12 171[5][7][6] | Not documented |
| Market availability1–5 | Available from several mainstream brands[5][7] | Not documented |
| Spool sizes & diameters | 1.75 and 2.85 mm; 750 g and 1 kg spools[7][5] | 1.75 mm diameter, 1 kg spool.[8] |
| Typical applications | Dimensionally stable functional parts, ducting and living hinges where PA6 would move too much with humidity[1][9] | Manufacturer applications include footwear, sports equipment and cushioning.[3] |
| Printing Parameters | ||
| Nozzle temperature°C | 260–290 (Extrudr DURAPRO PA12)[10] | 230–260 °C; 240 °C recommended.[3] |
| Bed temperature°C | 110 (Extrudr DURAPRO PA12)[10] | 60–90 °C[3] |
| Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5 | Enclosure required (passive)[1] | Not documented |
| Part cooling fan | Part cooling fan not required (Simplify3D)[11] | 10–50% fan recommended; mechanical-test specimens used 50–100%.[3] |
| Bed surface & adhesion aid | PEI sheet with a glue stick, or a dedicated adhesive such as Magigoo[11][1] | PEI build plate[3] |
| Maximum volumetric flow (mm³/s; see test conditions)mm³/s | 12 at Extrudr's 150 mm/s cap on a 0.4 mm nozzle at 0.2 mm layer[10][12] | 9 mm³/s maximum in eSUN spiral-vase test; mechanical specimens used 2 mm³/s. Linear recommendation 25–110 mm/s is a separate quantity.[3] |
| Bed-adhesion difficulty1–5 | Needs a specific surface plus adhesive[11][1] | Not documented |
| Stringing / oozing tendency1–5 | Moderate — retraction tuning needed[1] | Not documented |
| Overall printing difficulty1–5 | Advanced — enclosure, hardware upgrades, tuning[1] | Not documented |
| Hardware Wear & Reliability | ||
| Nozzle hardness required1–4 | Brass fine indefinitely for unfilled grades[1] | Not documented |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Non-abrasive when unfilled[1] | Not documented |
| Nozzle clog risk1–5 | High — jams from moisture, heat creep or particles[9][13] | Not documented |
| Heat-creep / jam sensitivity1–5 | Moderate — good heatbreak cooling needed[11] | Not documented |
| Hotend requirement | May require an all-metal hot end (Simplify3D)[11] | Not documented |
| Moisture Behaviour | ||
| Moisture absorption (hygroscopicity)1–5 | High (0.8–2 %) — Polymaker's PA12-CF10 reaches 1.5 % equilibrium against 3.33 % for its PA6-GF25, and Polymaker developed the PA12 grade specifically for lower moisture sensitivity[2][9] | Not documented |
| Drying temperature & time | 60–80 °C for 8–12 h (Extrudr DURAPRO PA12); 100 °C for 8 h (Polymaker CoPA)[10][14] | 70–75 °C for 6–8 h; re-dry after receiving or extended exposure.[3] |
| Symptoms when wet | Popping and cracking during extrusion, then hard-to-diagnose defects[9] | Not documented |
| Effect of moisture on strength | Polymaker states its PA12 grade changes little between wet and dry, unlike its PA6-based materials; the CoPA dry-to-wet reference shows what the PA6-type response looks like[9][14] | Not documented |
| Storage requirement | Sealed below 20 % RH with desiccant[13] | Not documented |
| Hydrolysis at melt temperature | Polymaker requires a 100 °C dry for 8 h and storage below 20 % RH; no molecular-weight loss figure is published, and the published wet data is conditioning rather than melt hydrolysis[14][15] | Not documented |
| Mechanical Properties | ||
| Tensile strength (XY)MPa | 49.3 at yield and 33.4 at break printed XZ (Stratasys FDM Nylon 12, ASTM D638)[4] | >16.5 MPa printed XY, GB/T 1040; manufacturer lower bound, not an exact measurement.[3] |
| Young's modulusMPa | 1510 printed XZ and 1250 ZX (Stratasys FDM Nylon 12, ASTM D638)[4] | Not documented |
| Elongation at break% | 30 at break printed XZ against 6.5 in ZX (Stratasys FDM Nylon 12, ASTM D638)[4] | >520% printed XY, GB/T 1040; manufacturer lower bound.[3] |
| Charpy impact, notchedkJ/m² | 11 at +23 °C and 6.0 at -30 °C (Extrudr DuraPro PA12, ISO 179/1eA); unnotched does not break[10] | Not documented |
| Other impact data | Izod notched 138 J/m printed XZ against 71.0 J/m in ZX (Stratasys FDM Nylon 12, ASTM D256)[4] | Not documented |
| Layer adhesion / Z tensileMPa | 41.8 at yield and 41.2 at break printed ZX (Stratasys FDM Nylon 12, ASTM D638) — higher than the XZ break figure, because XZ specimens draw and neck first[4] | 7.5 MPa printed Z, GB/T 1040 (manufacturer test)[3] |
| Brittleness1–5 | Tough — absorbs impact, yields before breaking[1] | Not documented |
| Hardness (scale-specific)Shore A / Shore D / Rockwell | Not documented | 90 Shore A nominal grade designation; do not compare numerically with Shore D or Rockwell.[8] |
| Creep resistance / sustained load1–5 | Moderate — the long-chain polyamides hold load better than PLA but below PC[1] | Not documented |
| Fatigue / repeated-flex resistance1–5 | Excellent — living hinges viable. Stratasys sells FDM Nylon 12 specifically for repetitive-flex parts such as snap-fit clips and press-fit inserts on the strength of its fatigue properties[1][4] | Not documented |
| Elasticity / flexibility1–5 | Semi-flexible[9] | Not documented |
| Z strength as % of XY% | 85 (Stratasys FDM Nylon 12, ZX against XZ tensile yield, ASTM D638) — one of the least anisotropic unfilled filaments measured[4] | Not documented |
| Thermal Properties | ||
| HDT at 0.45 MPa°C | 94.7 printed XY and 91.9 in XZ/ZX (Stratasys FDM Nylon 12, ASTM D648 at 66 psi)[4] | Not documented |
| HDT at 1.8 MPa°C | 84.3 printed XY and 75.3 in XZ/ZX (Stratasys FDM Nylon 12, ASTM D648 at 264 psi)[4] | Not documented |
| Glass transition (Tg)°C | 34.0 (Stratasys FDM Nylon 12, ASTM D7426 inflection point)[4] | Not documented |
| Melting point / Vicat°C | Vicat A 142 (Extrudr DURAPRO PA12, ISO 306)[10] | 110 °C Vicat softening (GB/T 1633, 120 °C/h, 10 N); not HDT or a continuous-use rating.[3] |
| Continuous service temperature°C | Bounded by a Vicat softening point of 142 °C (Extrudr DURAPRO PA12); no loaded-bar service figure is published[10] | Not documented |
| Thermal expansion (CTE)µm/m·K | 84-103 printed (Stratasys FDM Nylon 12, ASTM E831: 84.4 in XY and 85.6 in XZ/ZX over -50 to 10 °C, 89.1 over 10-45 °C, 98.2 over 45-70 °C); Extrudr quotes 100 for DURAPRO PA12 (ISO 11359-2)[10][4] | Not documented |
| Flammability / UL 94 | Flammable; no UL 94 rating published for the unfilled grades surveyed[10] | Not documented |
| Environment & Chemical | ||
| UV resistance1–5 | Months outdoors before embrittlement[1] | Not documented |
| Chemical resistance | Withstands oils, fuels and alkalis[1] | Not documented |
| Water / humidity resistance in service1–5 | Good — minor absorption; the least moisture-sensitive of the common nylons[9] | Not documented |
| Food contact | Not food-contact certified as filament[1] | Not documented |
| Biodegradability / compostability | Not biodegradable[1] | Not documented |
| Recyclability | Mechanically recyclable but not accepted in household plastic collection[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; total VOC reached nearly 200 µg/min, the highest of the nine filaments tested[16] | Not documented |
| Ultrafine-particle emission rateparticles/min | ≈2 × 10⁸ median — low for ultrafine particles despite the highest VOC mass of any filament tested[16] | 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[16] | Not documented |
| Ventilation / filtration requirement1–5 | Ventilated room or enclosure recommended[16] | Not documented |
| Post-Processing | ||
| Sanding & machining | Sands poorly — gums rather than powders[11] | Not documented |
| Gluing & solvent welding | Cyanoacrylate; no common solvent welds polyamide[11] | Not documented |
| Vapour / chemical smoothing | No practical vapour smoothing[11] | Not documented |
| Support material pairing | Polymaker sells a break-away PolySupport matched to PA12[11] | Not documented |
| Dimensional accuracy & detail | Holds dimensions better than PA6 after conditioning — Polymaker singles its PA12 grade out on exactly this point[9] | Not documented |
| Solvents & Solubility | ||
| Soluble in | Dissolved at 23 °C by formic acid, phenol, m-cresol, 96 % sulphuric acid or hexafluoroisopropanol — all laboratory reagents.[17][18] | Not documented |
| Softened or crazed by | Not resistant to 10 % formic acid, phenol, chloroform or dichloromethane (Ensinger); zinc chloride stress-cracks nylon.[18][17] | Not documented |
| Solvent welding & smoothing agent | None — nylon's only solvents are formic acid, phenol and HFIP, all of which degrade the part they wet.[17] | Not documented |
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
- Fiberon PA612-CF15 Technical Data Sheet V1.1 Polymaker · 2024-12 · tds
- eSUN PEBA-90A Technical Data Sheet v1.0 (Aug 2025), checked 2026-10-17 eSUN · 2025-08 · tds
- FDM Nylon 12 — Material Data Sheet Stratasys · 2021-09 · tds
- Nylon PA12 — product listing 3DJake International · 2026-08 · vendor
- IEMAI 3D PA12 3D Printing Filament — store page IEMAI 3D · 2026-08 · vendor
- 3DXTech product catalogue 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
- eSUN PEBA-90A official product page: 1 kg price and product identity eSUN · 2026-10-17 · vendor
- Moisture Conditioning — effect on printed nylon properties Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Extrudr Product Catalogue (DURAPRO PA12 data block) Extrudr · 2025-03 · tds
- Nylon — Ultimate 3D Printing Materials Guide Simplify3D · 2026-08 · doc
- Max volumetric speed 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
- PolyMide CoPA — Technical Data Sheet page Polymaker Wiki · 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 — resistance of Ensinger plastics to chemicals (DIN 50 014, 23/50) Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds