PrusaSlicer gaps in fill
Hi All,
I was printing some spare parts for my Mk2 printer yesterday, before upgrading it to the Mk2.5S version, and noticed something a bit odd. Loaded the part x-end-idler.stl into the PrusaSlicer, set it for ABS and 100% fill, and sliced it. Overall it looked ok, but when I looked at the area from Z=3 to about Z=5, I could see 'gaps' in the fill of the circular section where the Z axis leadscrew goes through. See image slice_gap 0_049.jpg. Note this is the default slice gap setting in the print settings - see PrintSettings.jpg. The fill there seems to be marked as External Perimeter, rather than Infill, and has small spaces between the concentric rings of fill.
Just for comparison, I imported a simple cylinder with a cutoff on one side, about the same size as the area on the Prusa part, and put that next to the complete x-end-idler part. That shows normal fill in the same area when sliced.
File test-x-end-idle.3mf is included, which has the original idler, and my added test piece, just to show the difference.
I realise that the area I am looking at is internal to the print, and is of course covered over with top and bottom print layers, but it still seems to me that it makes the part weaker in that area than it should be.
I played around with the various parameters on the Print Settings, and found that if I set the 'Slice gap closing radius" parameter to 0.1 instead of 0.049, then the fill looks normal. See image slice_gap 0_1.jpg, I did not see any other differences in the sliced part with this setting, but before going ahead with more prints, would like a second opinion on whether this matters. I am familiar with most of the print settings, but this advanced stuff is beyond what I have learned so far.