PolyMide PA12-CF: Highly Stable Nylon Filament for 3D Printing
PolyMide PA12-CF is a brand-new engineering filament that offers high stability during both printing and use, delivering predictable mechanical properties regardless of the operating environment. PolyMide PA12-CF achieves this through its base polymer, Nylon 12, which exhibits higher moisture stability compared to conventional Nylon 6 filaments. This means that parts printed with PolyMide PA12-CF exhibit only minimal changes in mechanical properties between dry and wet states, making the mechanical properties of the printed parts more predictable. PA12-CF contains 10% chopped carbon fibers, which provide additional strength and stiffness while simultaneously reducing the coefficient of thermal expansion. These properties, combined with Polymaker’s Warp-Free and Fiber Adhesion technologies, result in an easy-to-print filament with highly desirable characteristics.
Differences Between PA6 and PA12 Filaments
The main difference between PA12 and PA6 is moisture stability. PA12’s longer polymer chain is significantly more resistant to moisture absorption and reaches moisture equilibrium at a lower percentage than PA6 filaments. Lower moisture absorption means that the mechanical properties change less drastically from a dry to a wet state. While PA6-CF outperforms PA12-CF in terms of properties when dry, PA12-CF outperforms PA6-CF in terms of strength and stiffness when wet.
Water molecules are attracted from the ambient air to the polyamide matrix and form a polar bond with the polymer chain. These water molecules act as plasticizers within the nylon; while they reduce tensile strength and stiffness, they increase toughness and impact resistance. Unless your 3D-printed parts are used in particularly dry environments or post-processed with a moisture barrier, it is generally assumed that all printed nylon parts will exhibit their wet-state properties during everyday use. In many applications, the wet-state properties are more desirable, and it is common practice in many nylon injection molding facilities to eject the molded parts directly into a water bath to prepare them for wet-state performance before they leave the factory.
In 3D printing, the filaments must be dry; otherwise, the moisture present in the filament will boil in the hot end and break out at the side of the extruded plastic, significantly degrading the mechanical properties, surface finish, and layer adhesion, and causing several other undesirable printing characteristics such as stringing and wetting. However, once the part is printed, the nylon naturally absorbs moisture from the air and reaches an equilibrium within the part. For PA12-CF, the moisture equilibrium is approximately 1.5% by weight, whereas other brand-name nylon filaments absorb up to 5% or more, which drastically affects the final properties of the part and results in a noticeable difference in performance between dry and wet conditions.
Since PolyMide PA12-CF exhibits a smaller shift in properties from dry to wet conditions, it delivers more predictable results in real-world applications. This allows you to design more accurately based on stress models and design loads, enabling you to further optimize your 3D-printed parts.
In addition, the filament’s printability is improved because the material absorbs less moisture during handling, storage, and printing. The filament is still hygroscopic, and we recommend storing and printing PolyMide PA12-CF in the PolyBox™.
Polymaker’s materials scientists have incorporated two Polymaker technologies into PolyMide PA12-CF. Warp-Free technology prevents the material from warping during printing by controlling the crystallization behavior of the polymer chains. Fiber-Adhesion Technology optimizes the surface chemistry of the carbon fibers so that they bond homogeneously with the polymer matrix. This provides higher strength along the Z-axis compared to competing filaments while also enabling easier printing on a wide range of 3D printers, including both desktop and industrial models.
PolyMide PA12-CF has a heat deflection temperature of 131 °C and is suitable for use in demanding environments where heat and stress are critical design factors. Combined with superior tensile strength and stiffness compared to other extrusion-based filaments, PolyMide PA12-CF is an engineering plastic that outperforms many other extrusion-based materials where the strength-to-weight ratio is crucial.
Note: In February 2022, Polymaker began transitioning all filaments to cardboard spools. This transition will take place gradually over an extended period. Both the manufacturer and we, as a retailer, will of course sell off the old inventory first before the new spools become available. The filament itself remains unchanged by this transition; it is merely a change in packaging, along with a new EAN and SKU number.
