We have the infill percentage for the normal supports, and the infill percentage for the dense supports. The only other setting we have to think about here is the support infill. To enable this feature, we change the number of dense support layers, or how many layers of this higher-infill support will be printed. It will allow us to use a lower infill percentage for the majority of the support, and only transition to a higher infill percentage where the structures are contacting the surface of the part.
Adding internal supports simplify 3d software#
There’s a feature in the software called dense support structures which allows you to vary the density of your support material.
![adding internal supports simplify 3d adding internal supports simplify 3d](https://themachinebros.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/62-img-1024x787.jpg)
But this 30% infill is used for the entire height of the support structures, which is going to use more of my expensive PVA filament than I would like. These support structures are currently set to have an infill of 30%, so you can see that these support walls are closer together, making them more solid than the infill on the interior of the part. The same concept of fill percentage also exists for support structures. In this case, our infill is set at 20%, so this part is only 20% solid on the inside. An infill percentage of 100% would be completely solid. Most of you are probably familiar with infill percentage, which determines how much plastic is printed on the interior of the part. Before we get into dense support structures, let’s review some terminology. When the printer builds the arch, it will be now supported from below. I’ve printed this model before, so I’ve already set the pillar resolution to 2mm to capture some of its smaller details and changed the support type to From Build Platform Only so we’ll only be dealing with the supports on the underside of the arch. You may notice some settings look familiar those for automatic placement which you can also access from the Customize Supports window. So let’s open Process Settings, click Show Advanced, and go to the Supports tab. Otherwise our extruder will be trying to add a new layer of plastic here with nothing underneath it. There are portions of this arch that will need support material.
![adding internal supports simplify 3d adding internal supports simplify 3d](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yd0WSTuTzeQ/maxresdefault.jpg)
Let’s preview how this model will be printed if we don’t use support structures. We’re also going to be using a unique feature in Simplif圓D called dense supports which will save us time and plastic. And for those of you that have ever purchased PVA, you know that it can be quite expensive. Dissolvable filament is great to use for supports when you need a clean surface finish on the underside of a part where they are in contact with support structures, or if you will have support structures that are difficult to remove otherwise. We’re printing the arch itself in PLA and printing the support structures in PVA, a water-soluble filament. And today we’re printing with two different materials. Our example model is this famous Paris monument, the Arc de Triomphe. As we’ve explained in a previous video, some models need to be printed using support material, which prevents overhangs from being printed over thin air. Save time and filament while getting great support using dense support structures in Simplif圓D.