3D Printing Infill Percentage - Some Tips

3DMatter decided to put some research into what effect infill percentage, patterns, and layer height have in terms of causing stress and breakage in 3D prints. They did have some surprises, mostly when considering 90% infill where they deduced that air voids are created, causing structural faults which result in stress but lower elongation in breakage. While discovering that linear and diagonal patterns have the best results, there was little difference in the end between those or hexagonal. They also pointed out, quite predictably, issues tend to arise on the the Z-axis due to weaker layers. More details on the findings by 3DMatter can be found here: http://3dprint.com/51065/infill-perc...s-3d-printing/


http://3dprint.com/wp-content/upload.../03/infill.png

When I first started, I was printing at 20% infill. This wasn't giving great results. After some experimenting, I noticed that printing at 30% infill produces not only stronger parts, but maintains the proper shape of the object *while* printing. Previously I had problems with walls "bowing" and shapes warping. I also print now with a 1.2 mm wall thickness and 50mm/sec for better results. I use ABS mostly.
-david