SteveCox3D

Introduction Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Amerigo Vespucci, James Cook. What do they all have in common, and what could they possibly be doing in a post related to 3D Printing and Generative Design? The obvious answer to what they have in common is that they were all explorers, many of them from an era known as The Age of Discovery. The reason they relate to this post is that Generative Design has been created for “design explorers” and it provides a method for navigating a route through to the discovery of the kind of design outcomes the like of whi

Yes, all sorted for me too. Big 👍 👍👍 for the Ultimaker Essentials support team!!

I'd already raised a ticket, and they thought they'd resolved it today, but I still get the "No Access........" screen, so it's back with them.

I've got the same issue - so @SandervG I would also be interested in the resolution................

@Garrett_Iverson I'm making some enquiries regarding whether there's a planned improvement in the pipeline to reduce the noise, and I'll add an update when I know more. In the meantime some people have put a soft pad (something like a felt material) on the base of the printer to cushion the plate when it reaches the bottom stop. So the suggestion at this stage is to use a "hardware" solution rather than try to deal with it in software or the firmware.

This is pretty standard behaviour for the S5. The S5 buildplate is quite heavy because it's a reinforced casting (and is much heavier than on an Ultimaker 2+ or Ultimaker 3). Once the buildplate gets near the bottom stop at the end of the print the buildplate stops momentarily and then power to the stepper motor is cut. Because of the weight of the buildplate there's enough momentum, for it to freefall the last few mm onto the bottom stop. That's what makes the loud noise. It's a little bit alarming, but not detrimental to the printer. You may not have noticed it at fir

Agree on the use of Fusion 360 for modelling threads that have to be 3D printed, I use that all the time. Some of the problem with threads comes from the fact that the outside thread will tend to be 3D printed slightly larger than the nominal size, and the inside thread will be slightly smaller than the nominal. The result is in an interference fit rather than the running clearance required for a thread. I usually engage the two threads together and then work them against each other and gradually they bed-in and work as they should. It can be useful to introduce a lubricant to make

I think getting to talk to the Materials team would be good as I think this is the most fascinating area of development for me. Understanding what testing programme they go through for new materials in more detail would be great for the community to understand.

Glad it worked out! This forum is all about helping each other, so it's great to get your feedback that this solved your problem.

The above contributions to this thread by @geert_2 @laverda and @JohnInOttawa all make great points, especially in relation to the load cases that might be seen by this part either in normal, or even abnormal, use. The part in this case study was produced from a Generative Design set-up using three different load cases acting on the pivot of the part. None of those three load cases were applying a lateral load to the pivot because it was considered that the connecting part is constrained in such a way that it cannot transmit any lateral load, so the design synthesis has not had to

@cloakfiend It's interesting to see in this case that the optimised part, which had much thinner sections, had a much better burn out of the PLA than the original baseline part. So it seems like the shapes can be fairly complex, with thin walls and sections, and still create good quality cast parts

Many thanks @JohnInOttawa for contributing to this discussion and the points you make are absolutely valid to this new way of designing. Firstly Generative Design creates surfaces that we would not ordinarily design ourselves, but when those surfaces are derived from the results of stress analysis it's fascinating to recognise the echoes of the way nature designs. Maybe nature is the greatest designer of all, because it has evolved to make the most effective use of the materials around it. What you've also outlined is something I'm working on at the moment in terms of

How can the very latest, cutting-edge design software combine with a 5,000 year old manufacturing technique to deliver outstanding weight reduction opportunities? Designing for light-weight parts is becoming more important, and I’m a firm believer in the need to produce lighter weight, less over-engineered parts for the future. This is for sustainability reasons because we need to be using less raw materials and, in things like transportation, it impacts upon the energy usage of the product during it’s service life. Lighter products mean less fuel to move them around, which can mak

In the past I too have got to a position where prints no longer stick properly to what seems like perfectly clean glass. It's as if there's something invisible to the naked eye that's causing a lack of adhesion. I found that using one of those scouring creams like you use for cleaning limescale off in the bathroom (Cif, it's called in the UK) seemed to rejuvenate the adhesion. These creams have a mild abrasion effect and whilst they're not aggressive enough to affect the glass in terms of creating any scratching, using this seems to "rejuvenate" the glass plate so that prints then stic

Thanks for the comments @geert_2 The interesting thing about the pliers is that the service life could be long because there are no moving parts and the flexible part is working well within it's elastic limit so it's response should remain constant. I'm used to testing things to determine their service life and this feels like it would cope with a very high number of operating cycles. The clamp force isn't enough to do a mechanical job like tightening a nut, but it does have a soft pinch force like you can get with your fingers. Someone who I showed it to was very int