From the very beginning, Markforged has been emphasizing the exceptional durability of its prints not only in the area of FDM technology, but in 3D printing in general. This time it is not a material innovation, but a new functionality in Eiger’s proprietary software. For those who have not had the opportunity to work with Markforged 3D printers, it is their original slicer used to operate the devices.
The new functionality is Performance Advisor, which joins the existing one, Simulation, which is used to calculate the impact of changing print settings on the print strength and optimize them in terms of cost and 3D printing time. A significant disadvantage is the need to know how the part is supposed to work and where stresses are supposed to occur. Performance Advisor no longer makes such a requirement.
So how does the new feature work? The task of Performance Advisor is to propose 3D printing parameters that will maximize the strength of the part and minimize the amount of material and printing time. This analysis is fully automatic, just upload the model and run the optimizer. In order to define the strength of the part without specifying where the stresses will occur, an analysis based on natural vibrations was used. The program determines the direction of natural vibrations that requires the least energy. On this basis, the areas most susceptible to deformation are identified. Knowing them, the program suggests printing parameters that will strengthen the print in these areas, taking into account the costs and time of 3D printing. Therefore, this is a two-step analysis.
Performance Advisor currently has a lot of limitations and is only available for one material – Onyx. Moreover, both the filling and its pattern cannot be modified, and the only parameters controlled are the thickness of the side, top and bottom wall layers. Also, models with a very complex mesh cannot be analyzed. As Markforged assures, these restrictions will be gradually lifted.
Source: www.markforged.com