How Does Slicing Setting affect Print Strength

The slicing software that is used for FFF printing can be rather complicated as there are often many different settings and options.

The fabWeaver team conducted some tests with different 3D printed inner density and infill patterns, to see how those affect print strength.

There are several settings on the slicer SW that users can change when slicing a 3D model, including our Weaver3 Studio.

Let us take a look at how the difference in density and pattern change from the default setting will affect the printed part.

Basic setting of  Weaver3 Studio

1. Difference per infill density

We mimicked our previous test of lifting a pile of A4 paper, using printed sample parts with the same infill pattern (lines type) but different densities with 10%, 30%(default setting), and 50%.

Infill density: 10% (Left), 30% (Middle), 50% (Right)

All 3 different printed samples are able to bear up to 3 piles of A4 papers (1500 sheets) successfully.  

Infill density: 10% (Left), 30% (Middle), 50% (Right)

However, while attempting to lift 1 box (5 stacks) of A4 papers, the 10% infill density sample part was immediately broken like in our previous test.

The test moved onward as we continued adding additional stacks of A4 paper piles.

The 30% infill density sample part was broken in the 8th A4 pile stacks, and the 50% infill density part was broken in the 10th A4 pile stacks.

Infill density: 10% (Left), 30% (Middle), 50% (Right)

As expected, we can see that the printed part with a higher density is stronger than the low-density printed part.

2. Difference per infill pattern

In our next test, we printed sample parts with the same infill rate (30% as default) but in different infill pattern designs with 'Lines', 'Triangles', and 'Gyroid'.

Infill pattern: Triangles (Left), Lines (Middle), Gyroid (Right)

All 3 samples were able to bear up to 6 piles of A4 papers (3000 sheets) without a problem.  

Infill pattern: Triangles (Left), Lines (Middle), Gyroid (Right)

As we added more paper piles for testing, the triangles pattern was broken in the 7th stack, line pattern broke in 8th, and the gyroid pattern broke in 9th stack.

Infill pattern: Triangles (Left), Lines (Middle), Gyroid (Right)

As a result, we can see that the gyroid pattern printed part is the most rigid, and the line pattern printed part is the weakest of the tested 3 patterns.

3. Result and meaning of test

From the strength test of printed parts with a different setting in the slicer, we found that parts were strongest with a higher density, and the gyroid pattern is the strongest among the tested 3 patterns.

In conclusion, for the greatest strength, parts should be printed with the highest density and with a complex pattern with fewer holes.

However, users need to consider economical efficiency and productivity as well, as such high density and complex pattern setting leads to large material consumption and extended printing time.

Thanks for joining us!