New Options for 3D Printing with Nylon Filament, Including Diran

NOTE 10/28/2019: See updated information regarding Diran extruder heads, below.

Does the idea of 3D printing parts in semi-aromatic polyamides (PA) sound intriguing? Too bad it has nothing to do with making nicely scented models – but it has everything to do with reaping the benefits of the Nylon family’s molecular ring structure. Nylon 6, Nylon 12, carbon-filled Nylon 12 and now a new, smoother Nylon material called Diran each offer material properties well-suited for additive manufacturing on industrial 3D printers.

Stratasys Nylon 12 Battery Box
3D printed Nylon 12 Battery Box. (Image courtesy Stratasys)

Quick chemistry lesson: in polyamides, amine sub-groups containing nitrogen link up with carbon, oxygen and hydrogen in a ring structure; most end up with a strongly connected, semi-crystalline layout that is key to their desirable behaviors. The number of carbon atoms per molecule is one way in which various Nylons (poly-amines) differentiate themselves, and gives rise to the naming process.

Now on to the good stuff. PA thermoplastics are known for strength, abrasion-resistance and chemical stability – useful material properties that have been exploited since Nylon’s discovery at Du Pont in 1935. The first commercial Nylon application came in 1938, when Dr. West’s Miracle Tuft Toothbrush closed the book on boar’s-hair bristle use and let humans gently brush their teeth with Nylon 6 (then called “Exton”) fibers.

Today’s Nylon characteristics translate well to filament-form for printing with Stratasys Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) production-grade systems. Here’s a look at properties and typical applications for Nylon 6, Nylon 12, Nylon 12 CF (carbon-fiber filled) and Diran (the newest in the Stratasys Nylon material family), as we see their use here at PADT.

When Flexibility Counts

Nylon 12 became the first Stratasys PA offering, filling a need for customized parts with high fatigue resistance, strong chemical resistance, and just enough “give” to support press (friction-fit) inserts and repetitive snap-fit closures. Users in aerospace, automotive and consumer-goods industries print Nylon 12 parts for everything from tooling, jigs and fixtures to container covers, side-panels and high vibration-load components.

3D Printed Nylon 12 bending example. (Image courtesy Stratasys)
3D Printed Nylon 12 bending example. (Image courtesy Stratasys)

Nylon 12 is the workhorse of the manufacturing world, supporting distortion without breaking and demonstrating a high elongation at break. Its ultimate tensile strength in XZ part orientation (the strongest orientation) is 6,650 psi (46 MPa), while elongation at break is 30 percent. Users can load Nylon 12 filament onto a Stratasys Fortus 380mc CF, 450mc or 900mc system.

As evidenced by the toothbrush renaissance, Nylon 6 has been a popular thermoplastic for more than 80 years. Combining very high strength with toughness, Nylon 6 is great for snap-fit parts (middle range of flexing/stiffness) and for impact resistance; it is commonly used for things that need to be assembled, offering a clean surface finish for part mating.

Nylon 6 displays an XZ ultimate tensile strength of 9,800 psi (67.6 MPa) and elongation at break of 38%; it is available on the F900 printer. PADT customer MTD Southwest has recently used Nylon 6 to prototype durable containers with highly curved geometries, for testing with gasoline/ethanol blends that would destroy most other plastics.

Prototype gas-tank made of Nylon 6, printed on a Stratasys system, using soluble support. (Image courtesy MTD Southwest)
Prototype gas-tank made of Nylon 6, printed on a Stratasys system, using soluble support. (Image courtesy MTD Southwest)

Both Nylon 12 and Nylon 6 come as black filament that prints in tandem with a soluble brown support material called SR-110. Soluble supports make a huge difference in allowing parts with internal structures and complicated overhangs to be easily 3D printed and post-processed.

Getting Stronger and Smoother

As with these first two PA versions, Nylon 12CF prints as a black filament and uses SR-110 soluble material for support; unlike those PAs, Nylon 12CF is loaded at 35 percent by weight with chopped carbon fibers averaging 150 microns in length. This fiber/resin combination produces a material with the highest flexural strength of all the FDM Nylons, as well as the highest stiffness-to-weight ratio.

Nylon 12 CF (carbon-filled) 3D printed part, designed as a test brake unit. (Image courtesy Stratasys)
Nylon 12 CF (carbon-fiber filled) 3D printed part, designed as a test brake unit. (Image courtesy Stratasys)

That strength shows up in Nylon 12 CF as a high ultimate XZ tensile strength of 10,960 psi (75.6 MPa), however, similar to other fiber-reinforced materials, the elongation at break is lower than for its unfilled counterpart (1.9 percent). Since the material doesn’t yield, just snaps, the compressive strength is given as the ultimate value, at 9,670 psi (67 MPa).

Nylon 12 CF’s strength and stiffness make it a great choice for lightweight fixtures. It also offers electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection properties better than that of Stratasys’ ABS ESD7, yet is still not quite conductive, if that is important for the part’s end-use. (For more details on printing with Nylon 12 CF, see Seven Tips for 3D Printing with Nylon 12 CF.) The material runs on the Fortus 380mc CF, 450mc or 900mc systems.

Just announced this month, Stratasys’ Diran filament (officially Diran 410MF07) is another black Nylon-based material; it, too, features an infill but not of fibers – instead there is a mineral component listed at seven percent by weight. This filler produces a material whose smooth, lubricious surface offers low sliding resistance (new vocabulary word: lubricious, meaning slippery, with reduced friction; think “lube job” or lubricant).

Robot-arm end printed in Diran, a smooth Nylon-based filament. (Image courtesy Stratasys)
Robot-arm end printed in Diran, a smooth Nylon-based filament. (Image courtesy Stratasys)

This smooth surface makes Diran parts perfect for applications needing a non-marring interface between a tool and a workpiece; for example, a jig or fixture that requires a part to be slid into place rather than just set down. It resists hydrocarbon-based chemicals, displays an ultimate tensile strength of 5,860 psi (40 MPa), and has a 12 percent elongation at break.

Close-up of Diran's smooth surface finish. (Image courtesy Stratasys)
Close-up of Diran’s smooth surface finish. (Image courtesy Stratasys)

(Revised) For the first time, Diran also brings the benefits of Nylon to users of the Stratasys office-environment, plug-and-play F370 printer. The system works with the new material using the same extruder heads as for ABS, ASA and PC-ABS, with just a few material-specific requirements. 

To keep thermal expansion consistent across a model and any necessary supports, parts set up for Diran automatically use model material as support. A new, breakaway SUP4000B material comes into play as an interface layer, simplifying support removal. The higher operating temperature also requires a different build tray, but the material’s lubricious properties (just had to use that word again) make for easy part removal and allow that tray to be reused dozens of times.

Read more about this intriguing material on the Diran datasheet:

and contact PADT to request a sample part of Diran or any of these useful Nylon materials.

PADT Inc. is a globally recognized provider of Numerical Simulation, Product Development and 3D Printing products and services. For more information on Stratasys printers and materials, contact us at info@padtinc.com.

Categories

Get Your Ansys Products & Support from the Engineers who Contribute to this Blog.

Technical Expertise to Enable your Additive Manufacturing Success.

PADT’s Pulse Newsletter

Keep up to date on what is going on at PADT by subscribing to our newsletter.


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

Share this post:

Upcoming Events

09/27/2023

2023 AZ Bio Awards

09/26/2023

Experience Stratasys Truck Tour - Houston

09/22/2023

AIAA Rocky Mountain Section Technical Symposium 2023

09/22/2023

Experience Stratasys Truck Tour - Dallas, TX

09/21/2023

Accelerating the Energy Transition through Simulation

09/20/2023

3D Printing vs. CNC Machining - Webinar

09/13/2023

Maxwell Updates in Ansys 2023 R2 - Webinar

09/12/2023

Sandia Science & Technology Park 25th Anniversary

09/12/2023

Experience Stratasys Truck Tour - Tempe, AZ

09/08/2023

26th Annual New Mexico Flying 40 Awards

09/08/2023

New Mexico Tech Summit

09/07/2023

New Mexico Tech Summit

08/30/2023

Structures Updates in Ansys 2023 R2 (1) - Mechanical, Post & Graphics

08/23/2023

Improved Injection Molding with Additive - Webinar

08/22/2023

SPIE Optics & Photonics Exhibition 2023

08/16/2023

Fluids Updates in Ansys 2023 R2 - Webinar

08/04/2023

Experience Stratasys Truck Tour - Salt Lake City, Utah

08/01/2023

Experience Stratasys Truck Tour - Denver Colorado

07/26/2023

Solving Supply Chain Issues with Additive - Webinar

07/25/2023

Arizona Tech Leadership Golf Tournament

07/24/2023

Arizona Tech CEO Leadership Retreat

07/19/2023

System Automation & Optimization Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 - Webinar

07/13/2023

2023 AEROSPACE, AVIATION, DEFENSE AND MANUFACTURING CONFERENCE

07/12/2023

Materials Updates in Ansys Granta 2023 R1 - Webinar

06/30/2023

Turbo Expo 2023

06/29/2023

Turbo Expo 2023

06/28/2023

Turbo Expo 2023

06/28/2023

Revolutionize Packaging Design with Additive - Webinar

06/27/2023

Turbo Expo 2023

06/27/2023

2023 E-MOBILITY AND CLEAN ENERGY SUMMIT

06/26/2023

Turbo Expo 2023

06/21/2023

Optics Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 - Webinar

06/07/2023

LS-DYNA Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 - Webinar

05/31/2023

Driving Automotive Innovation with Additive - Webinar

05/24/2023

Hill Air Force Base Tech Expo

05/24/2023

Structural Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 (3) – Structural Optimization & Ex

05/23/2023

CROSSTALK 2023: Emerging Opportunities for Advanced Manufacturing Smal

05/10/2023

Signal & Power Integrity Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 - Webinar

04/26/2023

Additive Manufacturing Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 - Webinar

04/20/2023

38th Space Symposium Arizona Space Industry

More Info

04/19/2023

38th Space Symposium
Arizona Space Industry

04/19/2023

Additive Aids for Manufacturing - Webinar

04/18/2023

38th Space Symposium
Arizona Space Industry

04/17/2023

38th Space Symposium

04/13/2023

Venture Madness 2023

04/12/2023

Fluid Meshing & GPU-Solver Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 - Webinar

03/29/2023

8th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference

03/29/2023

Structural Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 - Composites, Fracture & MAPDL

03/28/2023

8th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference

03/27/2023

8th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference

03/26/2023

8TH Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference

03/24/2023

Arizona BioPreneur Conference | Spring 2023

03/22/2023

2023 Arizona MedTech Conference

03/22/2023

Optimize Jigs & Fixtures with Additive - Webinar

03/15/2023

3D Design Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 - Webinar

03/08/2023

Competitive Advantages of 1D/3D Coupled Simulation - Webinar

03/01/2023

High Frequency Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 - Webinar

02/22/2023

Additive Advantages in Aerospace - Webinar

02/15/2023

Structural Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 (1) - Webinar

02/09/2023

IME 2023: MD&M | WestPack | ATX | D&M | Plastek

02/08/2023

IME 2023 MD&M | WestPack | ATX | D&M | Plastek

02/07/2023

IME 2023 MD&M | WestPack | ATX | D&M | Plastek

01/27/2023

Arizona Photonics Days, 2023

01/26/2023

Arizona Photonics Days, 2023

01/26/2023

TIPE 3D Printing | 2023

01/26/2023

Venture Cafe Phoenix Talent Night - Job Fari

01/26/2023

VFS 2023 Autonomous/Electric VTOL Symposium

01/25/2023

Arizona Photonics Days, 2023

01/25/2023

Building A.M.- Utah: Kickoff!

01/25/2023

TIPE 3D Printing | 2023

01/25/2023

VFS 2023 Autonomous/Electric VTOL Symposium

01/24/2023

VFS 2023 Autonomous/Electric VTOL Symposium

01/24/2023

TIPE 3D Printing | 2023

01/18/2023

2023 AZ Tech Council Golf Tournament

12/21/2022

Simulation Best Practices for 5G Technology - Webinar

12/14/2022

Digital Twins Updates in Ansys 2022 R2 - Webinar

12/08/2022

Tech the Halls - AZ Tech Council Holiday Mixer

12/07/2022

Electric Vehicle and Other Infrastructure Update Panel

11/30/2022

SPEOS Updates in Ansys 2022 R2 - Webinar

11/23/2022

Simulation Best Practices for Electronics Reliability - Webinar

11/16/2022

Discovery Updates in Ansys 2022 R2

11/10/2022

VentureCafe Phoenix Panel: Venture Capital in AZ

11/08/2022

2022 GOVERNOR’S CELEBRATION OF INNOVATION AWARDS + TECH SHOWCASE

11/03/2022

VentureCafe Phoenix Panel: Angel Investment in AZ

11/02/2022

High & Low Frequency Electromagnetics Updates in Ansys 2022 R2

10/26/2022

Simulation Best Practices For Chip-Package-System Design & Development

10/20/2022

Nerdtoberfest 2022

10/19/2022

2022 Southern Arizona Tech + Business Expo

10/19/2022

LS-DYNA Updates in Ansys 2022 R2 - Webinar

10/17/2022

Experience Stratasys Truck Tour - Clearfield Utah

10/14/2022

ASU School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks - Formal Opening Cele

10/14/2022

Experience Stratasys Truck Tour - Midvale Utah

10/12/2022

Experience Stratasys Truck Tour - Littleton Colorado

10/06/2022

Fluids Updates in Ansys 2022 R2 - Webinar

10/05/2022

Experience Stratasys Truck Tour - Colorado Springs

09/29/2022

White Hat Life Science Investor Conference - 2022

09/28/2022

2022 AZBio Awards

09/28/2022

Simulation Best Practices for Rotating Machinery Design & Development

09/21/2022

ExperienceIT NM 2022

Search in PADT site

Contact Us

Most of our customers receive their support over the phone or via email. Customers who are close by can also set up a face-to-face appointment with one of our engineers.

For most locations, simply contact us: