{"id":352,"date":"2012-10-19T20:12:10","date_gmt":"2012-10-20T00:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/greiner.ca\/blog\/?p=352"},"modified":"2012-10-19T20:12:10","modified_gmt":"2012-10-20T00:12:10","slug":"investigating-the-effect-of-speed-on-print-quality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/greiner.ca\/blog\/2012\/10\/19\/investigating-the-effect-of-speed-on-print-quality\/","title":{"rendered":"Investigating the effect of speed on print quality"},"content":{"rendered":"

One thing I’ve noticed in some of my prints is the tendency to “drool” a bit on the edges, sort of like a hernia.\u00a0 This is caused by the extruded plastic layer still being soft when the next layer is put on top of it, causing the bottom layer to bulge out a bit (or even a lot).\u00a0 This will typically be seen when the perimeter of the piece is small (makes sense, right?).\u00a0 The obvious solution is to give the layer time to solidify, and easiest way is to simply slow down the speed of the head.\u00a0 I recently ran a small experiment to test the effect of slower speeds.<\/p>\n

For my test piece I chose something from Thingiverse called “cthulhu2”.\u00a0 It’s not too big, so it’s not overly expensive in terms of time to print … that is, I can do it in the evening after work.<\/p>\n

The normal speed that I use is 60 mm\/second (recommended by the manufacturer).\u00a0 For testing, I tried 30 mm\/second.\u00a0 Overall, this seemed to help, but wasn’t a complete cure.\u00a0 I also tried printing at both 0.1 and 0.2 mm\/layer.\u00a0 The following pictures show the results.\u00a0 If the pieces are numbered 1 through 4, left through right :<\/p>\n

piece\u00a0 layer\u00a0 speed\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 infill\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 time-t0-print<\/p>\n

(mm)\u00a0 (mm\/sec)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 (minutes)<\/p>\n

1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0.1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 30\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1.5\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 162<\/p>\n

2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0.1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 60\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 192<\/p>\n

3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0.2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 60\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 75<\/p>\n

4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 0.2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 30 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 1.5\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 85<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reducing the amount of infill certainly improves the speed, but there’s always a danger of droops at the top or at overhangs.\u00a0 There’s no evidence of droop at the tops here, but #4 does show a bit of a problem on the tummy, just below the hands.<\/p>\n

You can certainly see the effect of printing at 0.1 and 0.2 mm\/layer, both on the quality of the print and the length of time it takes to complete the print.<\/p>\n

I list the SLIC3R parameters after the pictures.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here are some pictures of the pieces.\u00a0 Keep in mind that these correspond with the piece#, from left to right.\u00a0\u00a0 You’ll want to zoom in to see all the types of issues, and how it changes from piece to piece.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"front<\/a>

front view<\/p><\/div>\n

\"right<\/a>

right hand side<\/p><\/div>\n

\"rear<\/a>

rear view<\/p><\/div>\n

\"left<\/a>

left hand side<\/p><\/div>\n

\"top<\/a>

top view<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The STL files were sliced with the SLIC3R program.\u00a0 Here’s a sample printer ini file :<\/p>\n

# generated by Slic3r 0.9.1 on Sun Sep 30 13:36:08 2012
\nbridge_flow_ratio = 1
\nbridge_speed = 60
\nbrim_width = 0
\ncomplete_objects = 0
\nexternal_perimeter_speed = 100%
\nextra_perimeters = 1
\nextruder_clearance_height = 20
\nextruder_clearance_radius = 20
\nextrusion_width = 0
\nfill_angle = 45
\nfill_density = .15
\nfill_pattern = honeycomb
\nfirst_layer_extrusion_width = 200%
\nfirst_layer_height = 100%
\nfirst_layer_speed = 70%
\ngcode_comments = 0
\ninfill_every_layers = 1
\ninfill_extruder = 1
\ninfill_extrusion_width = 0
\ninfill_speed = 60
\nlayer_height = 0.2
\nnotes =
\noutput_filename_format = [input_filename_base].gcode
\nperimeter_extruder = 1
\nperimeter_extrusion_width = 0
\nperimeter_speed = 30
\nperimeters = 3
\npost_process =
\nrandomize_start = 1
\nskirt_distance = 8
\nskirt_height = 1
\nskirts = 2
\nsmall_perimeter_speed = 30
\nsolid_fill_pattern = rectilinear
\nsolid_infill_speed = 60
\nsolid_layers = 3
\nsupport_material = 0
\nsupport_material_angle = 0
\nsupport_material_extruder = 1
\nsupport_material_extrusion_width = 0
\nsupport_material_pattern = rectilinear
\nsupport_material_spacing = 1
\nsupport_material_threshold = 45
\nthreads = 2
\ntop_solid_infill_speed = 60
\ntravel_speed = 160<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One thing I’ve noticed in some of my prints is the tendency to “drool” a bit on the edges, sort of like a hernia.\u00a0 This is caused by the extruded plastic layer still being soft when the next layer is … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-3d-printers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/greiner.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/greiner.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/greiner.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/greiner.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/greiner.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/greiner.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/greiner.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/greiner.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/greiner.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}