3D Printing Volume

The 3D printing volume of a printer gives the maximum size that one object can have in order to be printed.

EOS M 400
EOS 3D printer

The size of the printing volume depends on the chosen material which in turns determinates the type of printer used. The maximum size also depends on the chosen finishing process (e.g. coloring, polishing). There are printers of many different sizes, big and small. For example the Stratasys objet1000 printer has a maximum size of 1000x800x500mm. 

Object printed
Example of an object printed with Stratasys objet 1000

Size limitations for each material on Sculpteo

The following table summarizes the size limitations for each material onSculpteo :

Plastic

White/unpolished

677 x 368 x 565 mm

Colored

180 x 220 x 220 mm

Polished

300 x 220 x 200 mm X + Y + Z   ≤ 540 mm

Silver/Brass

Maximum size

60 x 80 x 100 mm

Minimum size

2.4 x 2.4 x 0.8 mm

Resin

Maximum size

290 x 190 x 147 mm

Alumide

Maximum size

300 x 300 x 500 mm

Ceramic

Maximum size

250 x 350 x 200 mm X + Y + Z    ≤ 400 mm

Minimum size

6 x 6 x 6 mm

X + Y + Z ≥ 120 mm and minimum fill   volume > 5.0%

Multicolor

Maximum size

254 x 381 x 203 mm

For a complete list of supported materials and their properties and limitations please refer to the main Materials page.

3D Printing volume and speed

One of the most frequently posed questions is how long the 3D printing lasts. This is mainly determined by the size of the object, and to a smaller extend the fill volume. Another important factor is the positioning of the object in the printing batch. Due to the layered printing process, the time to print 1cm height is much greater than printing the same size in width and depth. Therefore in order to speedup the printing process it is important to position the object optimally in the printer.

However, printing one object at a time is not optimal. One advantage of the layer printing process is that objects can be placed one on top of another, or even interleaved without interfering in their printing. This leads to one of the important jobs done at Sculpteo, optimization of the positioning of the objects. In consequence this allows Sculpteo to provide a fast service while offering the best price.

3D Printing volume and price

When printing an object the machine uses material (e.g. plastic) to build the object. Therefore we can imagine that the price of the object depends on the amount of material used. However this is not exactly true. For example, in the case of SLS, the laser that sinters the material is also being used. Furthermore, the work done to optimize the positioning of the objects in the printing process influences the price significantly. For example, there are object that have specific geometric properties that impede this optimization. These object will have their price influenced more by the placing in the batch than the real physical volume.

Price optimization

Having many pricing parameters allows to devise different optimization on the model in order to reduce its price. Some of these optimizations available on Sculpteo are hollowing and batch control.

Hollowing

The Hollowing tool removes the interior of the object and adds holes for powder extraction. This reduces the amount of material used as well as the time the machine spends on that object. The reduction of these two parameters leads to reduction of its price.

Hollowing tool
Example of the hollowing tool

Batch control

Another optimization is provided by the Batch control tool. It is available only when ordering bigger quantities (more than 20) of the same object. Batch control allows the user to optimize the printing volume while getting a better price which can be up to 80% cheaper.
Batch control tool
Example of the batch control tool

You can use these tools for free by uploading your object.