PolyMide™ PA6-GF (Nylon 6 + Glass Fiber) | Polymaker™
PolyMide™ PA6-GF is an engineering-grade Nylon reinforced with 25% of glass fibers, providing it with exceptional thermal and mechanical properties. Compared to regular unreinforced Nylon (CoPA 6/6-6 for example, this filament has a 2x higher Young's modulus (4421MPa compared to 2223 MPa). When comparing this material with PolyMide™ PA6-CF (its closest relative reinforced with carbon fibers) the only property in which it is better is its result in the Charpy impact strenght test and a slighter (but negligable) elongation at break rate.
Technical informations
Thermal properties | |
| HDT-A | 157 °C |
| HDT-B | 191 °C |
| Glass transition (Tg) | 70.4 °C |
| Drying settings | 100 °C for 8 h |
| Annealing settings | 100 °C for 6 h |
Filament properties | |
| Country of origin | China |
| Filament density | 1.2 g/mm3 |
| Diameter tolerance | 0.1 mm |
| Recommended adhesive | Magigoo Pro PA - Adhesive for Polyamide (nylon) |
Spool weight and dimensions |
How to store filaments
Humidity and UV light can decrease the filament quality and weaken its mechanical properties. We strongly recommend storing open filaments in a dry and dark place. You can find a complete guide on how to properly store your filament here
Where to throw print fails and supports?
We kindly ask our customers to cope with plastic waste responsibly. Failed prints, support material, rafts, or brims should be liquidated according to the local guidelines. Paradoxically, in most cases, it is better to throw this waste in the regular trash can, as most of the material waste created in 3D printing is not identified, which causes more problems than benefits in the waste sorting facilities.
PolyMide™ PA6-GF (Nylon 6 + Glass Fiber) | Polymaker™
PolyMide™ PA6-GF is an engineering-grade Nylon reinforced with 25% of glass fibers, providing it with exceptional thermal and mechanical properties. Compared to regular unreinforced Nylon (CoPA 6/6-6 for example, this filament has a 2x higher Young's modulus (4421MPa compared to 2223 MPa). When comparing this material with PolyMide™ PA6-CF (its closest relative reinforced with carbon fibers) the only property in which it is better is its result in the Charpy impact strenght test and a slighter (but negligable) elongation at break rate.
The glass fiber reinforcement provides significantly improved stiffness, strength, and heat resistance with outstanding layer adhesion supported by the Fiber Adhesion™ technology. Fiber Adhesion technology dramatically improves the Z-axis strength, via engineering the surface chemistry of the fibers to achieve a strong fiber/ matrix bonding. In contrast to conventional fiber-reinforced filaments, which exhibit a considerable reduction in Z-axis strength, PolyMide™ PA6-GF provides a higher interlayer adhesion compared to unreinforced PA6. With a Tensile strength in the Z axis of 61.4MPa, this is more than twice as much as competing filaments averaging 28MPa in Z axis tensile strength (compared with 4 competitors).
We recommend annealing all models printed in PolyMide™ PA6-GF. This allows users to take advantage of the full mechanical and thermal properties of this material.
PolyMide™ PA6-GF is a very stiff filament so it is required to have a good setup to ensure a good feeding. For example, we recommend avoiding excessive bending in the filament guide system.
We recommend storing PolyMide™ PA6-GF in a PolyBox™ to prevent moisture absorption. If the filament has absorbed moisture it can be dried at 100˚C for 8 - 12 hours in a convection oven.
General information about CF/GF :
Thermoplastics are plastics that can change their state without a change in chemical properties. They're popular 3D printing materials since they're simple to melt, extrude layer by layer, and cool into a shape. However, the features that make them suitable for 3D printing make them poor candidates for engineering-strength applications: many of these thermoplastics have a low melting point and aren't particularly strong or stiff. This is where composite materials come to help.
Composite filaments are filaments made from regular material (like PLA, ABS, PETG, Nylon, etc..) manufactured and co-extruded with additional 5-10 micrometers wide fibers like carbon fibers (CF), glass fibers (GF), or sometimes even kevlar. Composite materials usually benefit from enhanced strength, stiffness, heat resistance, and durability. This strength advantage over more standard thermoplastics used in 3D printing, such as ABS or PLA, allows 3D printing applications to expand alongside these new materials and their attributes. The ratio of fiber to filaments usually ranges from 10% to 30%.
An often less visible property that greatly impacts the final strength of the filament is the fiber length and type of extrusion used during the filament production process. Some manufacturers use only milled fibers, extruded in a random way, others use extrusion methods where fibers are aligned following the axis of the material, which provides better mechanical properties to the filament.
Carbon fibers
Carbon Fiber is a stiff and sturdy fiber that behaves similarly to 6061 aluminum, making it ideal for lightweight components that can bear heavy loads.
Glass fibers
Fiberglass is a sturdy, versatile, and low-cost reinforcing material. It increases part strength beyond that of plastics and is an excellent starting point for printing with reinforcement.
Kevlar fibers
Kevlar has high toughness and shock resistance, making it ideal for high-impact shock-loading conditions. It bends instead of breaking.
Pros & cons of composite filaments
+ Increased strength and stiffness
+ Very good dimensional stability, less prone to warping
+ Lightweight
+ Increased heat resistance
+ Beautiful matt surface finish of printed parts
- Most composite filaments are abrasive and require at least a hardened steel nozzle for printing
- Increased oozing when printing & higher tendency to clog
Browse all carbon and glass fibre filaments (CF/GF) in stock in our warehouse in Senec, Slovakia. For comparison, see also Nylon and PETG.
PolyMaker is a premium quality 3D printing filament manufacturer. They're known for "hacking" 3D printing materials where their materials overtake any competition. With 7 registered technologies, their 3D printing filaments widen the range of applications of any desktop 3D printer. One of the most interesting is PolySmooth's layer-free technology, where when combined with the Polysher, you can obtain a perfectly smooth and perfectly layer-free print. Recently, PolyMaker decided to lower its impact on the planet and released PolyTerra™, an ecological breakthrough among filaments, where the filament, the package, and the spool are biodegradable. In addition, a tree is planted for each sold filament!
Material Comparison Chart
A comprehensive and extremely valuable resource provided by PolyMaker is the comparison chart. The chart is a true goldmine allowing easy comparison between materials with each mechanical and thermal property. It also includes data about the ease of printing.
Print Profiles
On Polymaker's download page you can find print profiles for most commercial 3D printers like Prusa, Flashforge, Raise3D, Ultimaker, Lulzbot.. also tweaked for different slicers, like Prusa Slicer, Cura or even IdeaMaker.
Browse all Polymaker™ filaments in stock in our Senec warehouse. PolyDryer, PolyBox and the Polysher smoothing machine are in 3D printing accessories.