What is 3D print delamination?

We talk about delamination in 3D printing when a shrinkage occurs higher up in the print model, during 3D printing. When and how fast a product shrinks depends very much on the type of material you use during printing. PLA and PET-G are not sensitive to this, but when you use more complex, shrink-sensitive materials like ABS or FLEX, there is a greater risk of shrinkage and warping. For example, when the material cools down too much during the printing process.

Difference between warping and delamination of a 3d print

Warping can occur in two places in the model. Firstly, at the bottom of the product, i.e. directly on the print bed. This is called warping and it occurs frequently. Various methods have been developed to prevent this. Second, delamination; two layers in the model pull away from each other and a crack appears. This is mainly due to adhesion errors. When the right settings are used for the right material, delamination should not occur.

Room Control

When printing with highly shrink-sensitive materials, printing under the right temperatures and space control is very important. Of course, a closed environment is essential for this. This keeps the temperature in the printer cabinet stable. But with room control, with which the dddrop RAPID ONE is equipped, it is continuously checked whether the cabinet temperature is stable or whether it needs to be adjusted. Only if it is really necessary is air supplied from outside. The RAPID ONE thus has a conditioned space.

Blockage of the nozzle

Another cause of delamination can be that the nozzle becomes clogged because the correct settings are not being pressed. This may be because too much material is being squeezed through the nozzle too quickly, while the temperature is set too low. This results in an extrusion that is too low. The result is that the layers are not built up properly: too little material is applied, so the adhesion is not optimal. In this way, the chance of cracking the model increases.

Delamination is an adhesion problem that we only see with very shrink-sensitive materials where the print settings are not properly adjusted. With its chamber control, the RAPID ONE is the ideal printer for printing shrink-sensitive materials.

Closed versus Open systems

Where the purchase of a professional 3D printer the first years was only reserved for the major players in the market, 3D printing is becoming more and more accessible. Also a professional 3D printer is becoming more affordable, there are machines from €4.000,- that deliver good quality models. Printing a prototype yourself is closer than you might think.

Imagine that you don’t have to wait six weeks for a model that you already know is just not good enough.  Instead, in the evening, before you go home, you turn on the 3D printer yourself and the next morning the prototype awaits for you.

Which 3D printer is the most suitable?

The question you have to ask is: which 3D printer is the most appropriate and are the possibilities indeed endless? It is wise to clearly map out what is expected of the 3D printer, or perhaps even more important, in the near future. It is important to know that we make a distinction between two types of 3D printers: 3D printers with a closed system and 3D printers with an open system.

Closed system

The 3D printers with an closed system are well developed and highly reliable 3D printers. These printers are controlled by one specific software system and they are designed in such a way that they can process one predetermined material. Everything in and on this machine is geared to the material of a particular supplier. Think of the right temperature for processing the material, how the material is delivered, but also the operating system from the software package. No flexibility but a continuous quality of the end product.

Open system

Recently there are professional 3D printers with an open system on the market. These printers can be controlled by different software programs and perhaps, even more important, they can process all materials from all providers. It is not a problem when there is more produced or when the material can be purchased cheaper through another provider.

Is the prototype not to your liking? Switch to different material. The possibilities are almost endless with an open system. On the other hand, there is more knowledge and expertise expected from the 3D engineers or good support from an external party.

The purchase of a professional 3D printer is within reach, but a well-considered choice is important, even in the term to get the best 3D printer. The dddrop RAPID ONE has the open system, which gives you a lot of freedom in choice.

All about the temperature

That the right temperature is very important in 3D printing needs no further explanation. The dddrop RAPID ONE is equipped with a closed chamber, to limit the influence of the environment. But you can imagine that if the temperature rises, it may be necessary to produce less heat or even to cool it, to get the same result. Especially if your printer is in a room without air conditioning, this is something to watch out for. Here are some tips to minimize the influence of external temperatures.

Change print bed temperature

If your printer is in a warm room, it can be useful to lower the temperature of your print bed a bit after printing the first layers. An example: when printing ABS, we usually recommend a print bed temperature of 120 ºC. If the room temperature exceeds 25 ºC, it is advisable to change the bed temperature to 100 or 110 ºC.

Ventilate with fans

Make sure the fans on the back of the printer are always on when printing in high temperatures. To cool down some more, you can speed up the fan in the print head after the first layers have been printed and the print head has warmed up. Change the fans – for example – from 40% to 60%.

Not too hot, not too cold

When temperatures outside rise, we often want to cool the inside temperature. This could be a pitfall, because the room temperature might get too cold for the printer. The printer needs a warm surrounding to make sure that the models are printed stress free and smooth. The temperature cannot be too high either, because this makes the filament weak, causing it to get stuck in the wheel.  At dddrop we recommend a room temperature (between 21 ºC and 24 ºC) for the best print results with the standard print settings.

A new way of producing

There is no doubt that the 3D printer, with its endless possibilities, is increasingly changing the way we produce. The technology of 3D printing is in full development and partly because of this development, 3D printing is becoming more accessible and traditional production lines are becoming more efficient and fair. Remote printing certainly contributes to this. What do we mean by remote printing and what are the advantages?

Remote 3D printing

The addition of remote printing allows companies to remotely control a 3D printer from anywhere in the world. A good working network or WIFI connection gives you the ability to turn on a 3D printer in China while you are in the Netherlands or anywhere in the world. This addition brings a number of important benefits.Printing without sharing files

• Less transportation costs
• Environmentally friendly
• Time savings

Printing without sharing files

The fact that an engineer does not want to share his self-developed 3D models is not strange. The monitoring of the files and the knowledge of the engineers is very important in the product development process. Especially in the prototyping process, the files are essential to come up with a new product and this data should not fall into the hands of others. When you print remotely, you can log on to a 3D printer and order your print from anywhere in the world without sharing the data with others.

Less transport costs

Remote printing significantly reduces the need to transport goods. After all, there is no need to send physical goods around the world. All you need to send is the print order via an internet connection. The final, physical, product is then printed on site. Especially when products are produced on the other side of the world, remote printing can be a great advantage in terms of transportation costs.

Environmentally friendly

By removing transportation from the production process, a lot of fuel is saved. In the traditional production process, a product is often transported several times. After development, the product is often made by a manufacturing company in another country, then in some cases it is transported to a local packaging company and then it goes to the stores or to the manufacturer. Since the product is transported several times, many exhaust gases are emitted. Using remote printing, it is possible to produce the entire product locally, including the packaging.

Time savings

In addition to the savings in transportation costs and the environmental benefits, there is also a benefit in time savings. Global shipping takes a lot of time, even though we are spoiled with global delivery times of three days. Remote printing is much faster. The print order is given, the printer goes to work on site and a few hours later you actually have your product in your hands.

The dddrop RAPID ONE has a SMART-module which enables printing through WiFi, a Lan or a network connection. Through the useful app -that can be installed on your smartphone- and the camera in the printer, you can monitor and operate the printer at all times.