A Question about Infill
Coming from the resin 3d printing world, where models are printed as solids, understanding how infill works is not yet in my brain.
If I were to make a model in CAD (I use Rhino3d), say a solid cylinder, if I printed it on my resin printer, it would print out as a solid.
With my Prusa, to use Infill, would I have to hollow the cylinder in the model first? Does PrusaSlicer assume the models are hollow and then adds infill?
Thanks. I'm trying to figure out if I have to add a "hollowing" step to my CAD work.
Leo
RE: A Question about Infill
No. A solid volume is made up of perimeters and top and bottom layers. Anything else is filled in with your chosen infill pattern and density. You also choose how many perimeters and top and bottom layers you want. Basically you can determine the shell thickness and the rest is filled with infill.
If you hollow a model like you are used to doing with resin models to reduce material then the hollow sections inside will also be sliced with perimeters, leaving you a void in the middle too. Its not something you want to do in general except in specific cases.
As most of the strength of a FFF part is provided by the perimeters rather than the infill you can for example add in strategic voids which the slicer will add extra perimeters around. Its a technique that allows you to control where the slicer puts them and can be used to make stronger parts.
Just add a solid cube about 60mm square and slice it, and then add in the same cube but with a 20mm void inside it to leave a 20mm wall and then slice that. Compare the output in the slice preview visualiser and use the layer slider to show you the internal structure. You will rapidly figure it out.
RE: A Question about Infill
What an outstanding answer! Thank you.