All About Nylon 3D Printing Filament
It gives us a hard time, but we still love it
There are around 50 different types of nylon, but not all of them are suitable for 3D printing—it was originally designed as a textile fiber. Wallace H. Carothers, a researcher at DuPont, first discovered it in 1935 when he was trying to make the first fully synthetic fiber. Since then, nylon has gone on to serve many purposes, from pantyhose to high-performance parts used in construction, automotive, and even aerospace. Let’s learn more about it.
What is Nylon 3D Printing Filament?
Nylons are a family of semicrystalline thermoplastic polyamides with similar compositions. It’s made through a process called condensation polymerization, where two different monomeric starting materials—a diamine and a diacid—are reacted together to form the polymer, producing a byproduct like water or HCl. But each type of nylon has a slightly different production method. Using Nylon 6,6 as an example, this is made through a condensation reaction between two common raw materials, hexamethylenediamine, and adipic acid. An alternative method is ring-opening polymerization, which uses caprolactam as a feedstock to produce Nylon 6. You’ll find more details about the different nylons and how they’re made a little further down.
Nylon has been used in 3D printing for over two decades now; in filament form, it’s used with fused deposition modeling (FDM) printers, and as a powder, it’s suitable for the selective laser sintering (SLS), and multi jet fusion (MJF) processes. The below image shows a part made on a 3D printer with nylon filament.
You might have heard that nylon is a difficult material to work with, and this is no lie. The problem with nylon is that it’s hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs moisture from the air. This makes it prone to warping, with poor layer adhesion, and inconsistent print quality if it’s not properly dried before printing.
The good news is that the addition of glass and carbon fibers does away with most of these hassles while at the same time improving its mechanical properties. Nylon carbon fiber filament is made by mixing short carbon fiber strands into nylon before extruding it into a filament. These fibers stabilize the material and prevent it from warping during printing. The even better news is that up to 25% of the nylon filament volume can be one of these fillers. When combined with the right filler and printer settings, nylon can be used to make strong, long-lasting, and functional parts for hard-wearing applications.
Advantages
- Flexible
- Tough
- Abrasion-resistant
- Resistant to alkalis, oils, fuel, and organic solvents
- Better impact-resistance than other engineering thermoplastics (i.e., PETG or ABS)
- More UV resistant than PLA or ABS (even more so when UV stabilizers are added)
- Recyclable
Disadvantages
- Tends to warp during printing and detach from print bed
- Is hygroscopic, so easily absorbs moisture before and after printing—could lead to defects
- Not as strong as other filaments, like PETG or ABS
- Not biodegradable
- Not resistant to halogens and inorganic acids
Applications
- Pulley sheaves
- Gears
- Fasteners
- Cable and zip ties
- Plastic buckles
- In dry, outdoor environments
Composition and Properties
The most common nylon filaments used for 3D printing are Nylon 6, 6,6, 12, 11, and 6,12. We’ve broken down their compositions, manufacturing processes, and key differences in the below side-by-side comparison table.
| Type | Composition | How it’s Made | Water Absorption (%) | Cost ($/kg, approx.) | Applications |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Type Nylon 6 | Composition ε-Caprolactam | How it’s Made Ring-opening polymerization of caprolactam | Water Absorption (%) ~2.5 | Cost ($/kg, approx.) $50–$90 | Applications Strong mechanical parts, gears, bearings, automotive components |
Type Nylon 6,6 | Composition Hexamethylenediamine + Adipic acid | How it’s Made Condensation polymerization of diamine & diacid | Water Absorption (%) ~2.0 | Cost ($/kg, approx.) $60–$100 | Applications High-strength structural parts, industrial tooling, heat-resistant components |
Type Nylon 12 | Composition ω-Aminolauric acid or Laurolactam | How it’s Made Ring-opening polymerization of laurolactam | Water Absorption (%) ~0.3 | Cost ($/kg, approx.) $75–$130 | Applications Flexible components, impact-resistant parts, chemical-resistant enclosures |
Type Nylon 6,12 | Composition Hexamethylenediamine + Dodecanedioic acid | How it’s Made Condensation polymerization of diamine & diacid | Water Absorption (%) ~1.0 | Cost ($/kg, approx.) $80–$120 | Applications Semi-flexible parts, low-moisture applications, weather-resistant components |
Type Nylon 11 | Composition 11-Aminoundecanoic acid | How it’s Made Made from castor oil, bio-based polyamide | Water Absorption (%) ~0.6 | Cost ($/kg, approx.) $90–$150 | Applications Medical devices, food-safe components, flexible mechanical parts |
Nylon Composition and Properties
| Property | Nylon 6 | ABS | PETG | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Property Tensile Modulus (MPa) | Nylon 6 2300 ± 64 | ABS 1699 ± 113 | PETG 1711 ± 45 | PP 234 ± 16 |
Property Tensile Stress @ Yield (MPa) | Nylon 6 63.1 ± 1.1 (XY) | ABS 38.1 ± 0.3 (XY) | PETG 46.2 ± 0.8 (XY) | PP 8.6 ± 0.4 |
Property Elongation @ Yield (%) | Nylon 6 6.1 ± 0.2 (XY) | ABS 4.1 ± 0.1 (XY) | PETG 5.9 ± 0.1 (XY) | PP 18.7 ± 3.0 |
Property Flexural Modulus (MPa) | Nylon 6 1060 ± 58 | ABS 1317 ± 28 | PETG 1489 ± 25 | PP 250 ± 9 |
Property Flexural Strength (MPa) | Nylon 6 36.6 ± 3.0 | ABS 21.5 ± 1.8 | PETG 50 ± 3.5 | PP 9.4 ± 0.3 |
Property Charpy Impact Strength (kJ/m2) | Nylon 6 13.7 ± 1.2 (Notched) | ABS 1.5 ± 0.1 (Hinge) | PETG 7.9 ± 0.6 (Notched) | PP 49.1 ± 3.2 (Notched) |
Property Hardness (Shore D) | Nylon 6 81 | ABS 76 | PETG 76 | PP 42 |
Property Heat Deflection Temperature (0.455 MPa) | Nylon 6 89.2 ± 5.6 | ABS 86.6 ± 0.4 | PETG 76.2 ± 0.8 | PP 64.1 ± 3.6 |
Property Glass Transition Temperature (°C) | Nylon 6 55.1 | ABS 100.5 | PETG 77.4 | PP -20 |
Property Melting Temperature (°C) | Nylon 6 188.4* | ABS 200 | PETG 260 | PP 130.6 |
Nylon vs. Other Plastics
*While nylon’s melting temperature is 188.4°C, carbon or glass-filled nylon filaments will have the melting temperature of their base material
Nylon Filament: Top Tips for Successful 3D Printing
As we mentioned, with the correct printer settings and right type of nylon, there’s no reason why you can’t get excellent results. Here are some of our top tips that are generally applicable to all nylon plastic filaments for successful 3D printing.
1. First, you’ll need to make sure your printer is adjusted to the best settings for this material. While the specific printer settings required will depend on the nylon’s formulation, here are the general rules:
- Extruder/nozzle temperature: 230–260 °C
- Bed temperature: 60–70 °C
- Print speed: 30–70 mm/s (50 mm/s is ideal for best results, especially for detailed parts)
- Infill density: 20% with a triangular infill pattern (should be adjusted as per application; load-bearing uses might need 50–80%)
- Best wall thickness: 1.5 mm (for most applications; will depend on the part’s end use)
2. As you can see, a heated printing bed is a must when working with nylon so that it doesn’t warp and lift off the bed, but you might also need to prep it with adhesives.
3. Keep the print environment at around 45°C.
4. Use carbon fiber or glass-filled nylon filaments that don’t warp as easily.
5. Store your nylon filament in a moisture-free, airtight container. Some containers can even store the filament during the printing process—handy for long-duration prints.
6. This goes for all 3D printing materials, but have a play around with the different speed settings until you find the perfect one. Every printer and material combination will behave slightly differently.
FAQs on Nylon 3D Printing Filament
How does Nylon differ from other plastic 3D printing filaments?
Nylon is more impact-resistant than PETG and ABS, and is a lot tougher, and more flexible than PLA. PLA is rigid and brittle, with poor fatigue resistance under cyclic loading—so nylon wins that round. Like nylon, ABS is a difficult material to print, but it is easier to use than nylon and also has better tensile strength. PETG, too, is a lot easier to print with and it’s also cheaper than nylon.
How is nylon recycled?
It has to be recycled in industrial recycling facilities. Nylon 6 is more recyclable than Nylon 6,6, for instance, as it is made from a single molecule. This makes it easy to polymerize, whereas Nylon 6,6 is made from two molecules that are difficult to separate.
Why is moisture bad for 3D prints?
The printed part could be ruined if moisture has got into the material (and, as we’ve seen, nylon loves to absorb it). This is because of the porosity caused by expanding bubbles of boiling water; as the water evaporates during printing, it can cause the material to weaken.
How Xometry Can Help
Thinking of using nylon for your next 3D printing project? Get in touch! 3D printing is our forte here at Xometry, and we offer lots of different methods and materials. You can get started today by uploading your designs to the Xometry Instant Quoting Engine® for a quick, free, and no-obligation quote.
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