Nylon in 3D Printing: An Overview
Nylon, also known as polyamide, comes in a wide range of types, with common materials including PA66, PA6, and PA12. It is an indispensable material in the injection molding industry. Similarly, nylon is also one of the most important 3D printing materials on the market. As a synthetic polymer, nylon offers excellent wear resistance, high toughness, great strength, and good heat resistance. These properties make nylon an ideal choice for a wide variety of 3D printing applications.
What Are the Advantages of 3D Printed Nylon?
Nylon is suitable for prototypes and functional verification parts such as gears and tools. It can be reinforced with carbon fiber or glass fiber to enhance mechanical performance while maintaining low weight.
Nylon offers a balance of flexibility and rigidity that varies with part geometry. Small parts tend to be flexible, while thicker walls result in more rigid components. This makes nylon ideal for printing moving hinges with both rigid parts and flexible joints.
Printed nylon parts often have a slightly textured, granular surface and generally require no supports or post-processing, significantly reducing labor costs.
Nylon is also suitable for producing moving and interlocking components in one print. This eliminates the need for assembling separate parts and enables faster production of highly complex geometries.
3D Printing Processes for Nylon
Nylon and polyamide-based composite materials are best suited for powder bed fusion 3D printing technologies such as Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) and Multi Jet Fusion (MJF), both of which are widely adopted. There are also FDM printers capable of printing with nylon filaments.
SLS (Selective Laser Sintering)
Over 60% of 3D-printed nylon powder materials are processed using SLS. Nylon 11 (PA11) and Nylon 12 (PA12) are the two most commonly used nylon types. PA11 offers better UV resistance and impact strength, while PA12 provides higher tensile strength and stiffness. There are also various reinforced composite nylons—such as those enhanced with glass or carbon fiber—that offer improved mechanical properties, similar to modified plastic materials.
Design Considerations
When printing with nylon, different structures require different design parameters to ensure successful printing.
- For SLS and MJF 3D printing, the minimum wall thickness should be at least 1 mm.
- For living hinges, the minimum wall thickness should be 0.8 mm for both SLS and MJF.
- Avoid designing large, flat parts in powder bed fusion processes, as these are prone to warping.
- Since nylon allows for moving and interlocking parts, make sure the clearance between printed parts is at least 0.6–0.8 mm.
- It’s recommended to remove powder from the inside of parts, especially those with wall thicknesses over 20 mm. To reduce material use and avoid deformation, ensure your design includes at least two escape holes for easy powder removal after printing.
Conclusion
Nylon 3D printing materials offer engineers and industrial designers greater creative freedom, enabling the production of high-performance parts suitable for both functional prototypes and end-use applications. While SLS remains the most commonly used technology for nylon printing, advancements in materials and technology are allowing other processes to quickly catch up.
