ASA Aero
Lightweight / Foaming Acrylonitrile Styrene Acrylate
4 products from 4 makers. Bambu Lab sells its own filament of this material for the H2C.
- Tensile modulus (XY)
- 0.709GPa
- 2 products · 0.594–0.824
- Tensile strength (XY)
- 9.88MPa
- 2 products · 8.25–11.5
- Tensile strength (Z)
- 7.86MPa
- one product
- Notched Charpy impact
- 1.8kJ/m²
- 2 products · 1.31–2.29
- HDT at 0.45 MPa
- 70°C
- one product
- Price
- 64CAD/kg
- one product
ASA Aero is a foaming, lightweight acrylonitrile styrene acrylate. Makers sell it for outdoor models and weight-sensitive projects such as RC planes. Its HDT at 0.45 MPa is 70–70 °C. On the H2C it prints at 240–280 °C with a standard nozzle, but QIDI says it keeps expanding in the nozzle, which causes unavoidable stringing, and Bambu Lab says a part's density varies with print settings.
Partly documented Tensile strength (Z), HDT at 0.45 MPa and price rest on 1 product each and tensile modulus (XY), tensile strength (XY) and notched Charpy impact on 2 products each. Each figure is the median of the products that publish it comparably, and beside it the middle half of them; a value on a test bar no document describes as printed, or with no stated test load, is set apart, except a heat deflection of a plastic that cannot crystallise, which its glass transition sets, unless its document points to a moulded or resin bar.
On the H2C
Printing in full- Nozzle
- 240–280 °C
- most products that give one
- Bed
- 80–90 °C
- most products that give one
- Heated chamber
- 45–60 °C
- both that give one
- Drying
- 60–80 °C, 6–8 h
- 2 of 4 products call for it; 2 more give it as optional
- Nozzle type
- standard
- 2 say a standard nozzle is enough; the rest are silent
No product's setting is beyond the H2C's limits: nozzle 350 °C, bed 120 °C, heated chamber 65 °C.
Among the materials
Against PLA Aero, ASA Aero is 51 % weaker flat, 47 % less stiff and 41 % less tough in notched impact. Among the materials, ASA Aero has a low tensile modulus (XY), tensile strength (XY), tensile strength (Z), notched Charpy impact, HDT at 0.45 MPa and density: each is in the lowest quarter of the materials that publish it. Its elongation at break (XY) and price sit in the middle half.
ASA Aero against its alternatives
How does it compare with what an engineer would buy instead?
- ASA Aero: its products' median and middle half
- an alternative
- lowest to highest
- each material's median (top row)
Each row is a material, each column a property: the bar is the middle half of a material's products, the tick their median, the hairline their lowest to highest; the ticks above the rows are every material's median.
The figure as a table
| Material | Modulus (XY) (GPa) | Strength (XY) (MPa) | Strength (Z) (MPa) | Notched Charpy (kJ/m²) | HDT 0.45 MPa (°C) | Price (CAD/kg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ASA Aero (this material) | 0.709 · 2 | 9.88 · 2 | 7.86 · 1 | 1.8 · 2 | 70 · 1 | 64 · 1 |
| PLA Aero | 1.35 (0.972–1.52) · 7 | 20 (10.6–24.1) · 8 | 18 · 3 | 3.05 (2.05–4.83) · 4 | 53 (53) · 4 | 58 · 1 |
Each cell is the median of the products ranked, its middle half in brackets, and how many.
Where ASA Aero sits among the 128 rigid materials on file
Where is it in the landscape: stiffness against strength, heat resistance against price?
- ASA Aero: median, middle half as a cross
- a ASA Aero product
- an alternative
- another material
- beyond the scale
Tensile strength (XY) against tensile modulus (XY)
MPa, log scale
Tensile modulus (XY), GPa, log scale
HDT at 0.45 MPa against price
°C
Price, CAD/kg, log scale
Grey points are every other rigid material's medians; the alternatives are named.
The figure as a table
| Material | Tensile modulus (XY) | Tensile strength (XY) | Price | HDT at 0.45 MPa |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ASA Aero (this material) | 0.709 GPa · 2 | 9.88 MPa · 2 | 64 CAD/kg · 1 | 70 °C · 1 |
| PLA Aero | 1.35 GPa · 7 | 20 MPa · 8 | 58 CAD/kg · 1 | 53 °C · 4 |
Mechanical properties
Printed flat (XY), ASA Aero typically reaches a tensile strength of 9.88 MPa at a modulus of 709 MPa, and breaks at 7.71 % elongation. In bending, its flexural strength is typically 17.5 MPa at a flexural modulus of 657 MPa.
| As each sheet publishes it | Bambu Lab ASA Aero | Spectrum LW-ASA UltraFoam | colorFabb Light Weight | QIDI ASA-Aero |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tensile strength (XY) | not published | 39 MPanot described as printed | 11.5 MPa | 8.25 MPa |
| Tensile modulus (XY) | not published | 1.6 GPanot described as printed | 0.824 GPa | 0.594 GPa |
| Tensile strength (Z) | not published | not published | not published | 7.86 MPa |
| Elongation at break (XY) | not published | > 32 %not described as printed | 3.9 % | 12 % |
| Notched Charpy impact | not published | not published | 1.31 kJ/m² | 2.29 kJ/m² |
Across the layers (Z), ASA Aero keeps 95 % of its flat strength and 48 % of its flat elongation
What does a printed part lose across the layers (Z) against flat (XY), and is that usual?
- a product
- equal share: 100, 75, 50 and 25 %
- ASA Aero's median share
- an alternative
Tensile strength
Z keeps 95 % of XY, median of 1 product
flat (XY), MPa
Share kept: ASA Aero 95 % · PLA Aero 75 %
Tensile modulus
No ASA Aero product publishes both
Share kept: PLA Aero 74 %
Elongation at break
Z keeps 48 % of XY, median of 1 product
flat (XY), %
Share kept: ASA Aero 48 % · PLA Aero 46 %
Each point is a product that publishes both from one sheet: below the 100 % ray it keeps less across the layers than flat. Under each plot, the median share its alternatives' products keep.
The figure as a table
| Product | Property | Flat (XY) | Across (Z) | Z as a share of XY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QIDI ASA-Aero | Tensile strength | 8.25 MPa | 7.86 MPa | 95 % |
| QIDI ASA-Aero | Elongation at break | 12 % | 5.54 % | 48 % |
| PLA Aero (alternative) | Tensile strength | 75 % · 3 | ||
| PLA Aero (alternative) | Tensile modulus | 74 % · 4 | ||
| PLA Aero (alternative) | Elongation at break | 46 % · 3 |
No ASA Aero product publishes tensile modulus both flat and across the layers from one sheet.
Flat and across the layers, property by property
Flat and across the layers
| Property | Printed flat (XY) | Across the layers (Z) | Z as a share of XY | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median | Products | Median | Products | ||
| Tensile strength MPa | 9.88 | 2 | 7.86 | 1 | 95 %1 product |
| Tensile modulus GPa | 0.709 | 2 | — | — | |
| Elongation at break % | 7.71 | 2 | 5.54 | 1 | 48 %1 product |
| Flexural strength MPa | 17.5 | 2 | 24 | 1 | — |
| Flexural modulus GPa | 0.657 | 2 | — | — | |
The middle half of the products under each median. The share is each product's Z value as a part of its XY value, from one sheet and one state, and the median of those shares. How XY and Z differ.
Thermal properties
Its products put HDT at 70 °C under 0.45 MPa and 55 °C under 1.8 MPa. As published, Vicat softening is 80 °C, from one product.
| As each sheet publishes it | Bambu Lab ASA Aero | Spectrum LW-ASA UltraFoam | colorFabb Light Weight | QIDI ASA-Aero |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HDT at 0.45 MPa | 85 °Cnot described as printed | < 80 °Cload not stated | not published | 70 °C |
| HDT at 1.8 MPa | not published | not published | not published | 55 °C |
Not published for ASA Aero: the glass transition.
Printing on the H2C
ASA Aero prints within the H2C's limits and softens near 70 °C, above its 65 °C chamber
What does printing it on the H2C take, and how hot can a part get?
- share of the products that accept each temperature
- what most products accept
- the H2C's limit, and beyond it
- a product
- ASA Aero: its products' median and middle half
- as published, under each sheet's own test
Printing it on the H2C
In service
°C
One temperature axis for the settings a print needs and the temperatures a part meets. A setting's shade is how many of the products whose sheets give a window accept each degree; the H2C's limit closes its row.
The figure as a table
| Setting or property | Most products, or the median | Products | H2C limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nozzle | 240–280 °C | 4 | 350 °C |
| Bed | 80–90 °C | 4 | 120 °C |
| Heated chamber | 40–70 °C; 45–60 °C | 2 | 65 °C |
| Drying | 60–80 °C, 6–8 h | 4 | — |
| HDT at 1.8 MPa | 55 °C | 1 | — |
| HDT at 0.45 MPa | 70 °C | 1 | — |
| Vicat softening temperature | 80 °C | 1 | — |
Windows read from the Bambu Lab Filament Guide are not shaded: the guide speaks for every product that reads it.
| Setting | Bambu Lab ASA Aero | Spectrum LW-ASA UltraFoam | colorFabb Light Weight | QIDI ASA-Aero |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nozzle | 240–280 °C | 220–285 °C | 240–260 °C | 240–280 °C |
| Bed | 80–90 °C | 60–90 °C | 90–100 °C | 80–110 °C |
| Heated chamber | 45–60 °C | not published | not stated; within, by its kind | 40–70 °C |
| Drying | 80 °C for 8 h | optional: 75 °C for ≥ 6 h | 60 °C for 6 h | optional: 70–80 °C for 6–8 h |
| Nozzle type | not stated | standard | not stated | standard |
In grey, a setting a product reads from a data sheet it shares or from the Bambu Lab Filament Guide, where its own sheet is silent, or a chamber all of them leave silent, read from what the makers of its kind of plastic state.
After printing
One product publishes values measured after annealing, at 80 °C for 12 h.
What makers say about printing it
Printing advice
Users can decrease material flow by 60% to achieve light weight parts, or use the expanding properties to effectively reduce print time by using big layer heights or single extra thick perimeters.
colorFabb Light Weight ASA (LW-ASA), data sheet, p. 1
Warping and shrinkage
To reduce warping, we would advise to use the least amount of cooling possible.
colorFabb Light Weight ASA (LW-ASA), data sheet, p. 2
More from makers: moisture sensitivity, nozzle wear, odour and emissions and adhesion between layers
Moisture sensitivity
Dry box Yes
Spectrum LW-ASA UltraFoam, data sheet, p. 1
Nozzle wear
Ruby or hardened nozzle No
Spectrum LW-ASA UltraFoam, data sheet, p. 1
Odour and emissions
When printing with ASA-Aero filaments, please place the enclosed printer in a ventilated environment.
QIDI ASA-Aero, data sheet, p. 4
Adhesion between layers
Also, for the best mechanical performance and layer adhesion, try printing with the least amount of cooling.
colorFabb Light Weight ASA (LW-ASA), data sheet, p. 2
Products
4 products, one from each of 4 makers.
Uses, limitations and chemicals
What it is sold for
Only 50%-75% the density of regular ASA prints, ASA Aero is as light as feather, designed for weight-sensitive objects, such as RC planes and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). With controllable foaming characteristic, ASA Aero achieves lower density of prints by increasing printing temperature or lowering flow rate.
Bambu Lab ASA Aero, maker's product page or guide, p. 1LW-ASA UltraFoam is an ideal solution for users seeking lightweight, durable, andvisually appealing prints for outdoor and technical applications where weight and efficiency matter.
Spectrum LW-ASA UltraFoam, data sheet, p. 1
What makers warn about
Since ASA-Aero adops the ‘on-demand foaming’ technology, the filament will continue to expand in the nozzle after being heated during the printing process.
QIDI ASA-Aero, data sheet, p. 4Therefore, it will cause unavoidable stringing during the nozzle movement.
QIDI ASA-Aero, data sheet, p. 4Not compatible with Cool Plate SuperTack, Hotend with Hardened Steel Nozzle 0.6 mm / 0.8 mm, and Hotend with Stainless Steel Nozzle 0.2 mm.
Bambu Lab ASA Aero, maker's product page or guide, p. 1
Finish and accuracy
In addition to that, the matte texture of the printed surface can reduce the visibility of printed layers and thus give a smooth surface finish.
QIDI ASA-Aero, data sheet, p. 1Matte finish hides layer lines
Spectrum LW-ASA UltraFoam, data sheet, p. 1
Chemicals and environment
| Exposure | What makers say |
|---|---|
| Water solubility | Insoluble, in its one statement |
| Acid resistance | Resistant, in its one statement |
| Alkali resistance | Resistant, in its one statement |
| Organic solvent resistance | Limited, in its one statement |
| Oil and grease resistance | Limited, in its one statement |
| Flammability | Flammable, in its one statement |
| UV and outdoor | Described in words, with no rating, in both statements |
Makers rarely give the concentration, temperature or duration: treat them as indications, not design data. Each product's statements are on its card.
Density and price
ASA Aero's density is typically 745 kg/m³, the middle half 445–1,040 kg/m³, across 4 products. One product has a sampled price: Bambu Lab ASA Aero at 64 CAD/kg.
| As each sheet publishes it | Bambu Lab ASA Aero | Spectrum LW-ASA UltraFoam | colorFabb Light Weight | QIDI ASA-Aero |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 64 CAD/kg | not published | not published | not published |
Regular prices, never sale prices, from 9 Canadian shops and 10 foreign shops, sampled 10 Sep–20 Oct 2026, not live; shipping and tax are not included.
Other properties, as published
4 more properties are published, each under its own sheet's test conditions, so they are listed, not ranked.
The 4 properties, lowest to highest
| Property | Products | Lowest–highest |
|---|---|---|
| Melting temperature | 2 | 200–204 °C |
| Water absorption | 2 | 0.65–0.8 % |
| Impact strength, test unclear | 1 | 3.4–32 kJ/m² |
| Melt mass-flow rate | 1 | 1.56 g/10 min |
Sources
9 documents from 4 publishers (5 data sheets, 3 makers' product pages and guides and 1 printer document), read 10 Sep–3 Oct 2026. Each value on ASA Aero's Products page names its document and page, and links to the original.
Bambu Lab, H2C Filamant Printing Guide (the H2C's printer guide): print settings for 4 products.
Every document (9), by publisher
| Publisher | Documents | Values | Products |
|---|---|---|---|
| colorFabb | 3 | 12 | 1 |
| Bambu Lab | 2 | 26 | 1 |
| QIDI | 2 | 13 | 1 |
| Spectrum | 1 | 10 | 1 |
- Bambu Lab, ASA Aero official maker product page
- Bambu Lab, Bambu Filament Technical Data Sheet - ASA Aero
- Bambu Lab, H2C Filamant Printing Guide | Bambu Lab Wiki
- colorFabb, colorFabb Print Support– 3D Printing Guides, Tips & Support
- colorFabb, Technical datasheet colorFabb LW-ASA
- colorFabb, Technical datasheet Light Weight ASA (LW-ASA)
- QIDI, QIDI Filament Guide | Choose the Right Filament
- QIDI, Technical Data Sheet QIDI ASA-Aero
- Spectrum, TECHNICAL DATA SHEET LW-ASA UltraFoam