Design for 3D Printing Part 3: Decreasing Print Time
Writer's note: This is the third installment of design for 3d printing. We'll be discussing how you can save time (and material) on plastic 3d printed parts. You can also go back and read Part 1 and Part 2.
One of the most common criticisms of Additive Manufacturing is its slowness in comparison to subtractive (Rapid) machining. While using additive manufacturing often saves time in the long run (especially in situations where specialized prototyping or significant machining time are required), subtractive machining is objectively faster in some situations with the proper resources. While that problem is more representative of the nature of additive manufacturing, there are several strategies that users can employ to cut down on printing time for plastic parts. In this post, we'll discuss design for 3d printing strategies that save time (and one that doesn't) and how you can implement them in Eiger and with your machine.
What Adds Time to a Print (and How to Avoid It)
To design parts that save time, we need to enumerate what actually adds time to prints. Below, we'll address each of the key time-wasters and why they add time.
Large Surface Area
This is the quintessential contributor to increased print time. A large surface area means more part walls to print. Because the print head moves significantly slower on walls than infill, adding more surface area (and thus a longer wall) significantly increases print time. This means that a smaller part with more intricate surface details can take longer to print than a larger, simple part. Take this gear and cylinder, pictured below. The outer diameter on each part is identical, meaning that the cylinder actually contains more material. However, the gear takes nearly 30% longer to print because of its increased surface area. Sometimes, advanced features are required for a successful part; however, in those other occasions simple is always faster.
Adding support material to your part will increase its print time more than any other factor. Because our support material consists of a long, slowly printed wall, the addition is akin to adding a massive amount of surface area. While support is necessary to print some parts, there are a few steps that you can take to limit the time added due to it.
1. Try a couple part orientations: Often, changing the orientation of parts can drastically change the overall print time. A great example of this is a skiing shinguard that a member of our team printed a few weeks ago. In one orientation, the massive volume under the shell requires huge support structures, yielding a 13 day print. By inverting the part, she cut 11 days off the print time and was able to print the part in a much more manageable two days.
2. Limit overhangs: If the part allows it, printing without supports will yield a faster print. When turned on, our algorithms will support any overhang over 45 degrees from vertical with Onyx (30 degrees for nylon). If you have more overhung areas that you cannot change (and will require support), make sure that your non-critical overhangs do not exceed these values. This will limit the supports placed to the overhangs that need it, while saving you time on other overhangs that don't in your part. If you have no overhangs that need support material, turn off supports and limit angles to 55 degrees for Onyx (or 45 degrees for Nylon). The part will print just fine and save you significant time.
3. Design with a print face in mind: In order to manage which overhangs will need support (and which won't), figure out what orientation the part should print in before designing it. This will allow you to design for 3d printing instead of altering the part to fit the printer. While it may not save print time, it will save design time for the part.
4. Split the part: Sometimes, parts are simply too complex for support-eliminating alterations. In this case, there is still an option. By splitting a part into two or more pieces, you can often limit overhangs much more easily. After the parts are printing, adhere them with Loctite 401 to get a multi-body part as strong as the unibody part would have been.
This is a classic trade off in FFF printing: layer resolution vs. print time. Our default layer resolution of 100 microns produces high quality surface finish. Increasing the layer height to 200 microns sacrifices a little surface finish quality while halving the time of your print. This is extremely helpful for quick and dirty plastic-only print jobs (printing with fiber requires a fixed layer height of 100 or 125 microns), as your parts will come off out of the printer twice as quickly. See the table below for time estimates for varying layer heights on the previously analyzed gear.
Design for 3D Printing
There's an unhealthy trend in Additive Manufacturing: overuse of the technology on parts that do not need to be printed. Consolidating machined and printed parts together into one print can easy, but it will add time to the print. The solution is simple from a timesaving perspective: only print geometries that benefit from being printed. Design for 3d printing: don't print shafts or other parts that are trivial to machine, as it will only add time to your workflow.
This is a more indirect cause of added time; however, it's just as important. Making sure that your bed is properly leveled and that you have enough material for a print can drastically decrease your lead time. Failed prints waste print time as well as material, and limiting them will go a long way towards printing more efficiently. Here are a couple ways that you can limit failed prints:
What Doesn't Help: Adding Speed Holes
Adding holes to your print may save material, but there's a pretty good chance that they won't save time. Holes often add surface area to your part which (as we've already mentioned) adds time. Take a look at the comparison below. The donut has less material due to the large hole, but takes 10% longer to print.
Saving time on prints is a fickle art: it varies greatly on a part to part basis and doesn't always work as you'd expect. However, by following these strategies you can decrease your print time in most cases.
Want to try this for yourself? Sign up here for a free trial of Eiger, our cloud based slicing software.
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3D Printing: Kuongeza muda wa kuchapisha: Hii ni sehemu ya tatu ya 3D kuchapisha. Kwa hivyo, kwa sababu ya kuvutia na kuvutia, unaweza kuokoa wakati na vifaa kwa kutumia vifaa vya plastiki vya 3D. Unaweza pia kurudi nyuma na kusoma sehemu ya kwanza na sehemu ya pili. Moja ya ukosoaji wa kawaida wa Additive Manufacturing ni polepole yake ikilinganishwa na subtractive (Rapid) machining. Wakati kutumia utengenezaji wa nyongeza mara nyingi huokoa wakati kwa muda mrefu (haswa katika hali ambapo prototyping maalumu au wakati mkubwa wa usindikaji unahitajika), usindikaji wa kuondoa ni haraka zaidi katika hali zingine na rasilimali sahihi. Ingawa tatizo hilo ni zaidi mwakilishi wa asili ya utengenezaji wa nyongeza, kuna mikakati kadhaa ambayo watumiaji wanaweza kutumia kupunguza wakati wa kuchapisha kwa sehemu za plastiki. Katika makala hii, tutazungumzia mbinu za kuchapisha 3D ambazo huokoa wakati (na moja ambayo haifanyi) na jinsi unaweza kuzitumia katika Eiger na mashine yako. Nini Inaongeza Muda kwa Print (na Jinsi ya Kuiepuka) Ili kubuni sehemu ambazo kuokoa muda, tunahitaji kuhesabu nini kweli anaongeza muda kwa prints. Chini, tutazungumzia kila moja ya wastes muhimu ya wakati na kwa nini wanaongeza wakati. Big Surface Area Hii ni mchangiaji quintessential kwa kuongezeka kwa muda wa uchapishaji. Eneo kubwa la uso humaanisha kuta zaidi za sehemu za kuchapisha. Kwa sababu kichwa cha uchapishaji husafiri polepole sana kwenye kuta kuliko kujaza, kuongeza eneo la uso zaidi (na kwa hivyo ukuta mrefu) huongeza kwa kiasi kikubwa wakati wa uchapishaji. Hii inamaanisha kwamba sehemu ndogo yenye maelezo magumu zaidi ya uso inaweza kuchukua muda mrefu kuchapisha kuliko sehemu kubwa, rahisi. Chukua gear hii na silinda, picha hapa chini. Kipenyo cha nje cha kila sehemu ni sawa, ikimaanisha kwamba silinda kwa kweli ina vifaa vingi zaidi. Hata hivyo, inachukua karibu 30% zaidi kuchapisha kwa sababu ya eneo lake kubwa la uso. Wakati mwingine, vipengele vya juu vinahitajika kwa sehemu yenye mafanikio; hata hivyo, katika hafla hizo nyingine rahisi daima ni ya haraka zaidi. Kuongeza vifaa vya kuunga mkono sehemu yako kutaongeza muda wake wa kuchapisha zaidi ya sababu nyingine yoyote. Kwa sababu nyenzo yetu ya msaada inajumuisha ukuta mrefu, uliochapishwa polepole, kuongeza ni sawa na kuongeza kiasi kikubwa cha eneo la uso. Wakati msaada ni muhimu kuchapisha baadhi ya sehemu, kuna hatua chache kwamba unaweza kuchukua ili kupunguza muda aliongeza kutokana na hilo. 1. Uwe na mtazamo wa kweli Jaribu orientations sehemu chache: Mara nyingi, kubadilisha mwelekeo wa sehemu inaweza kubadilisha kabisa jumla ya muda wa uchapishaji. Mfano mzuri wa hii ni shinguard skiing kwamba mwanachama wa timu yetu kuchapishwa wiki chache zilizopita. Kwa upande mmoja, kiasi kikubwa chini ya ganda inahitaji miundo kubwa ya msaada, kutoa uchapishaji wa siku 13. Kwa kugeuza sehemu, alipunguza siku 11 kutoka wakati wa kuchapisha na aliweza kuchapisha sehemu katika siku mbili rahisi zaidi. 2. Uwezekano wa kupata Mipaka overhangs: Kama sehemu inaruhusu, uchapishaji bila msaada itatoa uchapishaji haraka. Kwa mfano, ikiwa unafanya kazi na nylon, unaweza kutumia nylon ya Onyx, ambayo inapaswa kuwa zaidi ya nylon ya nylon ya nylon ya nylon ya nylon ya nylon ya nylon ya nylon. Kama una zaidi overhang maeneo ambayo huwezi kubadilisha (na itahitaji msaada), kuhakikisha kwamba noncritical overhangs yako si kuzidi maadili haya. Hii itapunguza msaada uliowekwa kwa overhangs ambazo zinahitaji, wakati wa kuokoa wakati kwenye overhangs nyingine ambazo hazifanyi kazi. Ikiwa hakuna overhangs ambazo zinahitaji vifaa vya kuunga mkono, kuzima na kupunguza pembe kwa digrii 55 kwa Onyx (au digrii 45 kwa nylon). Sehemu hiyo itachapisha vizuri na kukuokoa wakati mwingi. 3. Uwe na mtazamo wa kweli Kubuni na uso wa uchapishaji akilini: Ili kusimamia ambayo overhangs itahitaji msaada (na ambayo haitahitaji), tafuta mwelekeo ambao sehemu inapaswa kuchapisha kabla ya kuibuni. Hii itakuruhusu kubuni kwa uchapishaji wa 3D badala ya kubadilisha sehemu ili ifanane na printa. Ingawa huenda isiokoe wakati wa kuchapisha, itaokoa wakati wa kubuni kwa ajili ya sehemu. 4. Uwe na uhakika Kugawanya sehemu: Wakati mwingine, sehemu ni tu ngumu sana kwa ajili ya msaada-kuondoa mabadiliko. Katika kisa hiki, bado kuna chaguo. Kwa kugawanya sehemu katika vipande viwili au zaidi, mara nyingi unaweza kupunguza overhangs kwa urahisi zaidi. Baada ya kuchapisha sehemu, kuunganisha yao na Loctite 401 kupata sehemu ya mwili mbalimbali kama nguvu kama sehemu unibody ingekuwa. Hii ni classic biashara nje katika FFF uchapishaji: tabaka azimio dhidi ya kuchapisha muda. Utaratibu wetu wa msingi wa 100 microns hutoa kumaliza kwa ubora wa juu. Kuongeza urefu wa safu hadi 200 microns inahatarisha ubora wa kumaliza uso wakati wa kupunguza nusu ya muda wa uchapishaji wako. Hii ni muhimu sana kwa kazi za kuchapisha za plastiki tu za haraka na chafu (kuchapisha kwa nyuzi inahitaji urefu wa safu ya 100 au 125 microns), kwani sehemu zako zitatoka kwenye printa mara mbili haraka. Angalia jedwali hapa chini kwa makadirio ya muda kwa ajili ya tofauti safu urefu juu ya gear awali kuchambuliwa. 3D Printing ni moja ya teknolojia ya uzalishaji wa nyongeza ambayo inahusisha matumizi ya teknolojia ya nyongeza kwa sehemu ambazo hazihitaji kuchapishwa. Kuunganisha sehemu machined na kuchapishwa pamoja katika kuchapisha moja inaweza kuwa rahisi, lakini itaongeza muda kwa kuchapisha. Suluhisho ni rahisi kutoka mtazamo wa kuokoa muda: tu kuchapisha geometries kwamba kufaidika na kuchapishwa. 3D kuchapisha: Usichapishe shafts au sehemu nyingine ambazo ni trivial kwa mashine, kama itakuwa tu kuongeza muda kwa workflow yako. Hii ni sababu ya moja kwa moja zaidi ya muda wa ziada; hata hivyo, ni muhimu kama. Kujiandaa kwa ajili ya kuchapisha kwa kutumia vifaa vya kutosha na vifaa vya kutosha kwa ajili ya kuchapisha kwa urahisi kunaweza kupunguza muda wa kuongoza. Matoleo yaliyoshindwa yanapoteza wakati wa kuchapisha na vilevile vifaa, na kuzipunguza kutafanya uchapishaji uwe na ufanisi zaidi. Kwa sababu hii, kuna njia kadhaa za kupunguza uchapishaji ulioshindwa: Kuongeza mashimo ya kasi: Kuongeza mashimo kwenye uchapishaji wako kunaweza kuokoa nyenzo, lakini kuna nafasi nzuri kwamba hazitaokoa wakati. Mashimo mara nyingi kuongeza eneo uso kwa sehemu yako ambayo (kama sisi tayari zilizotajwa) anaongeza muda. Angalia ulinganisho ulio hapa chini. Donut ina vifaa vichache kwa sababu ya shimo kubwa, lakini inachukua 10% zaidi kuchapisha. Kuokoa muda juu ya prints ni sanaa fickle: inatofautiana sana juu ya sehemu ya sehemu ya msingi na si daima kazi kama wewe ingekuwa kutarajia. Hata hivyo, kwa kufuata mikakati hii unaweza kupunguza muda wako wa kuchapisha katika kesi nyingi. Je, ungependa kujaribu jambo hilo mwenyewe? Kujiandikisha hapa kwa ajili ya jaribio bure ya Eiger, wingu yetu msingi slicing programu. Blogi zote na habari zilizomo ndani ya blogi hizo zina haki za uchapaji na Markforged, Inc. na haziwezi kunakiliwa, kubadilishwa, au kupitishwa kwa njia yoyote bila ruhusa yetu ya maandishi. Blogi zetu zinaweza kuwa na alama zetu za huduma au alama za biashara, pamoja na zile za washirika wetu. Matumizi yako ya blogi zetu hayana haki au leseni yoyote ya kutumia alama zetu za huduma au alama za biashara bila ruhusa yetu ya awali. Markforged Habari zinazotolewa katika blogi zetu hazipaswi kuchukuliwa ushauri wa kitaaluma. Hatuna wajibu wa kusasisha au kurekebisha blogi kulingana na habari mpya, matukio ya baadaye, au vinginevyo. Kamwe kukosa makala Jisajili kupata mpya Markforged maudhui katika sanduku lako la barua