3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
PA6/66 vs PE
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | PA66 (Nylon 66)PA | Polyethylene (PE)POLYOLEFIN |
|---|---|---|
| Market snapshot | ||
| Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots | Not documented | $87.72/kg median; $87.72–$87.72/kg across 1 dated product listings |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Base polymer / chemistry | Polyamide 66, condensed from hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid; melts around 40 °C above PA6[1] | Polyethylene — the simplest polyolefin, non-polar and highly crystalline. The one retailed filament grade, Spectrum HDPE, uses what Spectrum calls Low Warp technology and is denser and stiffer than plain HDPE[2][3] |
| Densityg/cm³ | 1.14 (extruded unfilled PA66 stock)[4] | 1.10 (Spectrum HDPE filament, ISO 1183) against 0.95 for extruded HDPE stock — the filament is a modified formulation[2][3] |
| Typical priceUSD/kg | Not documented | 1 kg-equivalent spools cluster near 88[5] |
| Price range across brandsUSD/kg | Not documented | 87.72 — Spectrum's 500 g spools at 3DJAKE are the only PE filament listing found[5] |
| Market availability1–5 | Special order, 1–2 makers worldwide — no unfilled PA66 filament appeared in any catalogue searched, and the 3DXTech nylon range offers PA6, PA12 and a 6/66 copolymer but no straight PA66[6][7] | Niche, a handful of specialist brands — Spectrum HDPE in six colours is the only PE filament in the 3DJAKE and igo3d product sitemaps, at MatterHackers or at Printed Solid, but it is a normal stocked item rather than a special order[8][9][10][5] |
| Spool sizes & diameters | Not documented | 1.75 mm; 500 g spools in six colours[5][8] |
| Typical applications | Not documented | Chemically resistant containers, packaging prototypes and consumer goods where HDPE is the production material[2] |
| Printing Parameters | ||
| Nozzle temperature°C | Not documented | 240-290 (Spectrum HDPE)[2] |
| Bed temperature°C | Not documented | 80-100 (Spectrum HDPE)[2] |
| Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5 | Enclosure required (passive)[1] | Enclosure recommended — Spectrum recommends a closed chamber for larger prints[2] |
| Part cooling fan | Not documented | 0-50 % part cooling (Spectrum HDPE)[2] |
| Bed surface & adhesion aid | Not documented | Spectrum states no adhesive is necessary for its low-warp HDPE, depending on geometry[2] |
| Warping tendency1–5 | Not documented | Moderate — needs adhesion aid or draught shield. Spectrum's low-warp grade is sold as printable on desktop machines, which is not true of plain polyethylene[2] |
| Bed-adhesion difficulty1–5 | Not documented | Needs the right surface or a thin adhesive; Spectrum states no adhesive is necessary but recommends a closed chamber for large parts[2] |
| Overall printing difficulty1–5 | Advanced — enclosure, hardware upgrades, tuning[1] | Intermediate — dry filament and a tuned profile; Spectrum sells the grade as desktop-printable with no dry box and no hardened nozzle[2] |
| Hardware Wear & Reliability | ||
| Nozzle hardness required1–4 | Not documented | Brass fine indefinitely — Spectrum states a ruby or hardened nozzle is not required[2] |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Not documented | Non-abrasive[2] |
| Nozzle clog risk1–5 | Very high — frequent jams without careful setup[11][12] | Low — Spectrum lists no drybox and no ruby or hardened nozzle for HDPE, and very low moisture absorption[2] |
| Moisture Behaviour | ||
| Moisture absorption (hygroscopicity)1–5 | Very high (>2 %)[12] | Negligible (<0.1 % EMC) — Spectrum lists very low moisture absorption and no dry box[2] |
| Equilibrium moisture content at ~50 % RH% | 8.5 at saturation on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D570) — the highest uptake of any polymer in this dataset[4] | Not documented |
| Drying temperature & time | Not documented | No drying step published; Spectrum lists a dry box as not required[2] |
| Effect of moisture on strength | Measured dry against wet on printed specimens at 6.16 % moisture (Polymaker CoPA): tensile 78.0 → 34.3 MPa, Young's modulus 2703 → 724 MPa, flexural strength 109.8 → 22.6 MPa, while notched Charpy rises 6.9 → 27.7 kJ/m² and elongation 12.7 → 13.2 %[13][11] | Not applicable in practice — Spectrum lists very low moisture absorption and no drybox requirement for HDPE[2] |
| Storage requirement | Not documented | Store dry at 18-25 °C out of sunlight; Spectrum quotes a 24-month shelf life[2] |
| Mechanical Properties | ||
| Tensile strength (XY)MPa | 82.7 at yield and 84.8 at break on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D638; converted from 12,000 and 12,300 psi) — no printed figure exists because no unfilled PA66 filament was found[4] | 29 at break (Spectrum HDPE, ISO 527; specimen type not stated) against 25.5 at yield on extruded HDPE stock (ASTM D638, from 3700 psi)[2][3] |
| Young's modulusMPa | 2413 on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D638; converted from 350,000 psi)[4] | 3500 (Spectrum HDPE, ISO 527) against 965 on extruded HDPE stock (ASTM D638, from 140,000 psi) — the filament grade is nearly four times stiffer than plain polyethylene[2][3] |
| Elongation at break% | 50 at break on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D638)[4] | 18 at break (Spectrum HDPE, ISO 527) against above 100 on extruded stock (ASTM D638)[2][3] |
| Flexural strengthMPa | 113.8 on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D790; converted from 16,500 psi)[4] | 27.6 on extruded HDPE stock (ASTM D790; converted from 4000 psi)[3] |
| Flexural modulusMPa | 3034 on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D790; converted from 440,000 psi)[4] | 3200 (Spectrum HDPE, ISO 178) against 965 on extruded stock (ASTM D790, from 140,000 psi)[2][3] |
| Other impact data | Izod 53 J/m on extruded PA66 stock, converted from 1.0 ft-lb/in (ASTM D256)[4] | Charpy 10 kJ/m2 (Spectrum HDPE, ISO 179-1; notch condition not stated); Izod 104 J/m on extruded stock, converted from 1.94 ft-lb/in (ASTM D256)[2][3] |
| Brittleness1–5 | Not documented | Tough — absorbs impact, yields before breaking; 18 % elongation at break on the filament and above 100 % on extruded stock[2][3] |
| Hardness (scale-specific)Shore A / Shore D / Rockwell | Shore D 86 and Rockwell 85 (108) — the source does not name the scales on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D2240, D785)[4] | Shore D 67 and Rockwell R54 on extruded HDPE stock (ASTM D2240, D785); Spectrum quotes Rockwell 80 HRM for its filament (ISO 2039-2)[3][2] |
| Fatigue / repeated-flex resistance1–5 | Excellent — living hinges viable[1] | Good — Spectrum lists outstanding abrasion and crack resistance for its HDPE, but no repeated-flex or fatigue test data was found for any PE filament[2] |
| Elasticity / flexibility1–5 | Semi-flexible[11] | Slightly flexible in thin sections — Spectrum's low-warp grade has a 3.5 GPa tensile modulus; plain extruded HDPE at 965 MPa is genuinely semi-flexible[2][3] |
| Wear resistance & friction | Wear factor 200e-10 in3*min/(ft*lb*h) on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D3702); Ensinger lists very good slide and wear properties[4] | Not documented |
| Thermal Properties | ||
| HDT at 0.45 MPa°C | 232 on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D648 at 66 psi; converted from 450 °F)[4] | 75 on extruded HDPE stock (ASTM D648 at 66 psi; converted from 167 °F)[3] |
| HDT at 1.8 MPa°C | 90 on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D648 at 264 psi; converted from 194 °F) — the gap to the 0.45 MPa figure is the widest in the dataset[4] | Not documented |
| Melting point / Vicat°C | 255 melting on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D2133; converted from 491 °F)[4] | Not documented |
| Continuous service temperature°C | 85 long term and 149 short term on extruded PA66 stock (converted from 185 °F and 300 °F)[4] | 110 stated as heat resistance by Spectrum with no test standard given; extruded stock is rated 120 long-term maximum (converted from 248 °F) and brittle below -76[2][3] |
| Thermal expansion (CTE)µm/m·K | 81.0 (extruded PA66 stock, ASTM D696; source states 4.5e-5 in/in/°F)[4] | 117 (extruded HDPE stock, ASTM D696; source states 6.5e-5 in/in/°F)[3] |
| Flammability / UL 94 | UL 94 V-2 on extruded PA66 stock[4] | Not documented |
| Environment & Chemical | ||
| UV resistance1–5 | Not documented | Moderate — a season or two. Spectrum describes its HDPE as UV-stable and weather-resistant but publishes no exposure data[2] |
| Chemical resistance | Not documented | Excellent chemical resistance to acids, bases, oils and solvents (Spectrum); Ensinger lists broad chemical compatibility for HDPE stock[2][3] |
| Water / humidity resistance in service1–5 | Not documented | Excellent — essentially unaffected; Ensinger lists low moisture absorption for HDPE stock and Spectrum very low absorption for the filament[2][3] |
| Recyclability | Not documented | Spectrum states the filament is fully recyclable; HDPE is resin code 2[2] |
| Electrical & ESD properties | Volume resistance 1e15 ohm-cm and dielectric constant 4 on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D257, D150)[4] | Not documented |
| Health & Safety | ||
| Fume toxicity1–5 | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised[14] | 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[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] | Not documented |
| Post-Processing | ||
| Sanding & machining | Not documented | Easy to machine — Ensinger lists machinability as a headline property of HDPE stock[3] |
| Dimensional accuracy & detail | Not documented | Spectrum lists a shiny surface finish and no adhesive requirement; shrinkage remains the limit on large flat parts[2] |
| Solvents & Solubility | ||
| Soluble in | Dissolved at 23 °C by formic acid above ~80 %, phenol, m-cresol, 96 % sulphuric acid or hexafluoroisopropanol — laboratory reagents.[15] | None at room temperature; xylene dissolves HDPE at about 105 °C and LDPE at 75 °C. Hot decalin does the same.[16][17] |
| Softened or crazed by | Zinc chloride solutions stress-crack it — 10 % marginal, 37 % not resistant; alcoholic calcium chloride dissolves it.[15] | Toluene, xylene, styrene, chloroform, dichloromethane, MEK and trichloroethylene are all unsatisfactory at 21 °C.[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 — polyethylene has no room-temperature solvent, so joints are made by heat welding.[17][16] |
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
- Spectrum HDPE Technical Data Sheet Spectrum Filaments · 2025-10 · tds
- TECAFINE HDPE natural — stock shape properties Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds
- TECAMID 66 natural (PA66) — stock shape properties Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds
- Spectrum HDPE Traffic Black, 1.75 mm / 500 g 3DJAKE · 2026-08 · vendor
- 3DXTech product catalogue 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
- Polymaker product catalogue Polymaker · 2026-08 · vendor
- 3DJAKE product catalogue 3DJAKE · 2026-08 · vendor
- igo3d product sitemap (17452 product URLs) igo3d · 2026-08 · vendor
- Printed Solid product catalogue Printed Solid · 2026-08 · vendor
- Moisture Conditioning — effect on printed nylon properties Polymaker Wiki · 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
- 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
- US 5,278,282 Polymer recycling by selective dissolution — xylene dissolution temperatures Nauman & Lynch, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute · 1994-01 · paper
- HDPE Chemical Resistance Guide (21 °C and 60 °C) INEOS Olefins & Polymers USA · 2026-08 · tds