GrabCAD Print 1.45 was released in late August 2020 and with it came a brand-new feature for FDM users called Adaptive Slice. This feature enables users of select FDM systems to greatly increase their print speeds by increasing the layer thickness of vertical walls while still preserving the finer resolution layer height on gradually curved surfaces.
Adaptive Slice FDM System Compatibility (October 2020)
- F270
- F370
- Fortus 450mc
- Fortus 900mc/F900
- F900
What is Adaptive Slice?
Adaptive Slice is an automated feature in the software’s slicing process that if enabled while selecting your layer slice (.007” or .010”), will automatically apply your selected layer thickness to the gradually curved features of your part (e.g., holes, chamfers, fillets, domes, etc.), and its slightly thicker layer slice “pair” (.010” or .013”) to the remainder of the part (i.e., straight vertical walls).
What are these Adaptive Slice “pairs”? Adaptive Slice works with any FDM material but only in the following two layer slice “pairs”:
Adaptive Slice Layer Pairs (October 2020)
- .007” and .010”
- .010” and .013”
This means when you select .007” slice and enable Adaptive Slice, all gradually curved surfaces will print in .007” layers and your vertical walls and steeper surfaces will print in its paired .010” layers. The same goes for .010” slice pairing with .013” slice.
Printing in Adaptive Slice will result in a faster build time compared to printing the entire part in the same layer height (now known as “Constant Slice”) without compromising the look or quality.
How to Use Adaptive Slice
Adaptive Slice can be enabled in both Insight and GrabCAD Print. Simply select ‘Adaptive’ as your Slice Style to see the results. The darker slices indicate a thicker layer slice, and the lighter slices indicate the layer slice you selected.
Enabling in GrabCAD Print: Tray Settings > Slice Style > Adaptive
Enabling in Insight: Modeler Setup > Slice height style > Adaptive
Example of Adaptive Slice in GrabCAD Print
At AdvancedTek, we use Adaptive Slice to cut down print time on larger parts without sacrificing quality on gradually curved surfaces. While this is currently an automated process, it’s the first step towards having full control over the layer thickness at each layer!
If you wish to learn more about Adaptive Slice check out the tutorial video below or reach out to us directly at sales@advancedtek.com.
Written by David Kadlec, AdvancedTek Application Engineer