3D printing speed
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3D printing speed measures the amount of manufactured material over a given time period (), where the unit of time is measured in Seconds, and the unit of manufactured material is typically measured in units of either kg, mm or cm3, depending on the type of additive manufacturing technique.
The following table compares the speeds of commercially relevant 3D printing technologies.
More information Technology, Normal speed ...
Technology | Normal speed | Maximum speed (claimed) |
---|---|---|
DLP/SLA | 20-36 mm/sec.[1] | 720 mm/sec[2] |
FDM | 50-150 mm/sec[3] | 500 mm/sec[2] |
SLS | 48 mm/sec [3] | 60 mm/sec |
Multi Jet Fusion | 2800 cm³/hr to 4000 cm3/hr[2] | 4500 cm3/hr [4] |
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3D printing speed refers to only the build stage, a subcomponent of the entire 3D printing process. However, the entire process spans from pre-processing to post-processing stages.[5] The time required for printing a completed part from a data file (.stl or .obj) is calculated as the sum of time for the following stages:
- The pre-processing stage, which spans the preparation process of both part and printer. This is required before the actual printing starts. It is calculated as the sum of the time required for the following processes:
- Positioning and orienting of the part to be printed
- Entering the parameters (e.g. layer thickness, material type) within the printer's software
- Generation of the support structure
- Generation of slices (slicing)
- Generation of the tool path plan by the software
- Warming up and loading of support and build materials
- The setting of the x-y and z axes
- Diagnostics, cleaning or additional testing
- The build stage, which is the actual print time after the prepared data are transferred to the printer for manufacturing. It can be considered as the sum of the following periods:
- Manufacturing time, when the part and support materials are being manufactured
- Idle time, non-productive time such as z-axis movement, cooling time, leveling, non-manufacturing movement of printhead
- The post-processing stage, which is the final stage, taking place post part manufacturing. It includes the following processes:
- Removing the supports
- Refining the surface for obtaining the desired surface quality[6]