User Manual 3D-Printer
Version 2018-3.1_ENG
34
7
Design Guide
Printing on a belt has a lot of opportunities if the design is correct. In this chapter we show the specific design rules
that apply to the BlackBelt 3D printer. Not every product is directly suitable for FDM printing and some digital
preparation is in order.
7.1
Design guidelines
In order to produce successful printed parts on the BlackBelt 3D Printers, it is critical to use the correct
machine parameters, but even more important is to apply to correct design rules for parts suited to be
printed on the BlackBelt 3D Belt printer. If the geometry to be printed does not comply with very specific
design rules the part will not print correctly and there will be a risk of damaging the machine.
The BLACKBELT 3D Printer print layers of molten polymer, in other words a viscous plastic. This polymer needs to
adhere on the belt composite material or onto an existing polymer layer. In the pictures below those layers are
visualized using diagonal lines.
If a new product is being printed, there is no previous layer. This means that the first layer needs to start onto the
conveyor belt.
Not every geometry is equally suited to be printed on the BLACKBELT 3D Printer. The model below is a cross section
of a plane which does not start onto the composite belt:
If the model starts above the belt, it is necessary to apply a support or starting geometry to the part, that can be
modelled in using CAD software. Applying an offset of 0.2 mm between start geometry and the actual product will
ensure easy removal of the support structure (red lines). The current version of BLACKBELT Cura (3.4) does not
create support structures automatically. This needs to be done by the user in a manual design process.
Starting point /
First line of the
machine code