WARPING

5. WARPING!!

While we round off the five common problems in 3D printing, we lastly cover Warping. Warping issue gives a headache to a lot of users, new and experienced. But if you understand the basics of the problem then it is really not so difficult to deal with it.

Warping is caused when the deposited material cools quickly. While cooling, the material contracts and this causes the ends to be lifted up thereby causing warping. Warping also leads to cracks in the print.

Check out the following 3D printing troubleshooting tips to know how to resolve your warping issues.

• Adjust Bed Temperature

The main solution to eliminating the warping issue is it use a heated bed while printing with materials which undergo warping, namely ABS. The core idea is to keep the first layer heated and not let them cool quickly. This helps the initial layers to remain in contact with the build plate thus avoiding warping.

• Adjust Fan Speed

New users generally do not play with slicer settings and so ignore this setting to eliminate the warping issue. Use advanced slicer settings to switch off the fan completely or keep the fan speed to a minimum for the first few layers. The fan can be switched-on after those initial layers. By this step, the deposited material remains hot for a longer time.

• Set Optimum Ambient Temperature (enclosure temperature)

It is advisable to use an enclosure while 3D printing. While an enclosed 3D printer may be costly but this added expense will save you from issues like warping, nozzle clogging, etc.

If you have the option to maintain the enclosure temperature then the printing will be easy and it will completely eliminate warping issues.

• Try New Build Plates

In order to increase the build adhesion between the layers and the build plate, users can also look to new types of build surfaces and plates. A PEI (Polyetherimide) sheet offers extra bed adhesion or a perforated build plate is also available which also improves adhesion.

• Use Bed Adhesion Tools

Slicer software has bed adhesion tools like Brim and Raft (Explained in the first problem of this article). Users can make use of these tools.

These were some of the most common problems encountered when 3D printing parts and the corresponding 3D printing troubleshooting tips to resolve them. You can also learn how to choose a 3D printing service and get your parts printed directly from a 3D printing service provider, if you wish to avoid the hassles that come with using 3D printing. As discussed earlier, this article is Part I of the series and we will provide solutions to more such common problems in 3D printing in Part II.