Below there are basic 3D printing guidelines to avoid common mistakes.
As a 3D printed object is printed in layers, the lower finished layer becomes a deposited support for the next one.
✓ For impended areas of an object avoid the exposed angle to be more than 45o. As a rule of thumb regions that remain unsupported will end to have
rougher finish than the rest of the model.
✓ As a common practice try to design your model as lightweight as possibleadding supports only where needed (depending on the 3D printing
technology used).
✓ The design of a model needs to be suitable with the specific 3D printing methods that is going to be used while a part made with
traditional manufacturing methods (inj. moulding, blow moulding etc) will have to follow different design guidelines.
✓ Pay attention to the orientation of the part that is going to be 3D printed. If your model has the centre of gravity above the Z-height medium then it is
recommended to be 3D printed upside down.
✓ Model’s wall thinness is an important factor. As a general guideline, a designed model should have more than 0.8mm wall thickness to be
successfully printed. Thinner walls might end to thickness inconsistencies to your 3D printed model or might be completely unprintable.
✓ Always make yourself aware of the material properties your model is going to be 3D printed of. There are materials with different core properties such as strength, stiffness and durability.
✓ Ensure that your 3D model has not large flat areas as there is a risk of distortion during 3D printing. Due to the constant heat concentration
(melting, sintering) on the same flat area while 3D printing, the part locally might show surface anomalies and also angular distortion (face might seem
to be flat but it in reality it won’t be as it will be overheated against a pivot area). This risk is higher when the model is particularly thin. A way to mitigate
this risk is to:
▪ Avoid large flat areas
▪ Add tangent fillets on the edges (round corners)
To find out more about 3D printing tolerance guidelines please visit, 3D printing tolerance guidelines.
✓ Choose the best material based on the intended application of your 3D printed part (to read more about materials don’t hesitate to read through
Materials)
✓ Stress concentration during 3D printing. A residual local stress might appear in your 3D printed part as a surface distortion. That might happen due to poor
model support, high flat areas, wrong machine calibration (high speed, wrong temperature). Up to a point, a good practice to reduce that risk is to increase
the strength of your model and apply fillet zones in the areas that are likely to be distorted.
Other helpful resources: