Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Printing support structures and post-processing
The printing process at ABC Imaging ends with post processing. When a 3D
print job is complete, the humans come back into play. Most printed objects
do not emerge from their manufacturing process looking glossy and perfectly
formed. After the freshly printed object is pulled from the printer, some human
manual prepping and cleanup is required, a procedure called
post-processing
.
Handling complex, freshly printed objects, like other steps in the 3D print-
ing process, has its own learning curve. Newly printed parts can be fragile
when they come out of the machine. John said, “Part of the learning curve is
that you're going to break a lot of things and burn a lot of material.”
The very capabilities that make 3D printing a novel and powerful way
to shape new forms and shapes also lend complications to the design and
manufacturing process. Objects with lots of spindly parts or boldly looping
or hollowed-out designs are the trickiest to print. Imagine 3D printing the
Brooklyn Bridge or an architectural model that has a wide but thin, lat roof.
To print “wow” features such as delicate, elaborately interlaced mesh parts,
a good designer must consider support structures. Support material is 3D
printed alongside the permanent material. Like temporary scaffolding in a
construction project, support structures help retain an object's shape during
the 3D printing process. Some printers require support structures and some
rely on the raw powder to provide support, but some designers will include
extra support structures for added resilience. Support materials are removed
at the end of the printing process, in the post-processing phase.
The degree and type of post-processing depends the complexity of the
object's design, what type of plastic resin it's made from, and how good it
needs to look. Removing support material may involve some manual sanding,
washing, and smoothing. Some 3D printed objects will be sanded, painted, or
welded together with other objects, depending on their purpose.
The raw materials
If wrestling with design iles is one challenge in bridging the digital and
physical worlds, the second is forcing raw material to a designer's will. Tiny
colored dots of light and rapid streams of binary instructions form the raw
material of the digital world. The physical world is not nearly so tidy and easy
to manipulate.
