The Importance of Calculating the Right Infill Percentage for 3D Printed Parts
Designing infills is a great way to lightweight 3D printed parts, but calculating the correct infill percentage is critical to ensuring that a part functions as intended.
Imagine the headache of manufacturing a part (or worse—a high volume of parts) only to find that the wrong infill percentage causes your product to bend under applied weight or pressure. What an expensive nightmare!
And yet, despite how important it is to get the infill percentage right, many engineers fall into the trap of guessing this figure and passing it on to the manufacturer, unknowingly endangering their part’s performance.
Alchemy Industrial wants to help you eliminate this kind of costly mistake. With our software-based design process, we can analyze your part to determine the right infill percentage every time, eliminating the need for expensive rework.
Alchemy Industrial’s Generative Design Services
Our comprehensive generative design process helps us avoid common infill percentage errors that drive up cost and lead time. We make several prototypes with different levels of infill using design sprints to find the ideal infill percentage. Here’s how we do it:
Identify function. Identifying function is one of the first and most important steps a designer takes when developing any product. If the function of a part is primarily aesthetic, infills aren’t going to be a problem. But if the prototype must be able to withstand extreme pressure, weight, or temperature, materials and infill percentage are critical design elements.
Analyze performance. Does your part need to be simultaneously lightweight and #stronglikemetal? Is it for a high-precision industry like aerospace or oil and gas? We ask important questions about performance to determine the right type of infill structure.
Conduct empirical testing. When it comes to industrial or high-performance parts, we never rely on estimated guesses or leaps of faith. Our team runs each infill through a finite element analysis to see if it works or fails, testing for design and safety.
Why guess when you can get your infill percentages right every time? Request a quote and take full advantage of Alchemy Industrial’s generative design services.
