Getting corrugated wall/edges and random dents on a flat surface, ABS Ultimaker2+

[GTK2011 0]

Hi everyone,

I am pretty new to the 3D printing, and recently I used the Ultimaker2+ with ABS to print some of designs for my college project. I need some help from guys.

The geometry of the design is pretty simple, mostly rectangular shapes with no overhang. But I am consistently getting corrugated edges as shown in the images attached. I am also getting small dents and granule-like bumps on a completely flat surface, which I could not get it shown clearly in the photos.

The intended shape:

The print I got:

I am using Cura 2.4.0. The firmware version is 2.4. The default high quality profile was chosen. The nozzle size is 0.4mm and material is ABS bought from ultimaker official site.

Any idea what is wrong and how I could improve the print quality? Thank you guys in advance!

[gr5 2,224]

ABS is quite a bit more difficult to print and it's probably going to be much weaker than PLA. Also white PLA is the hardest color to print because I think of all the talc added maybe? So I assume white ABS is the hardest of ABS filament - but I never tried white ABS.

Does this need to withstand a lot of heat? Is it going to be in a car or something?

In general to increase quality lower speed. I would increase layer height to 0.1mm and cut the speed down to 25mm/sec. Heat/fan control is critical to get extra good quality but too much fan and you get incredibly weak ABS parts. Yet with PLA it's so simple - just put fan at 100% and you get very strong parts and very beautiful.

What was your fan speed for this? And can you use PLA instead?

Edited April 3, 2017 by Guest

[GTK2011 0]

ABS is quite a bit more difficult to print and it's probably going to be much weaker than PLA.  Also white PLA is the hardest color to print because I think of all the talc added maybe?  So I assume white ABS is the hardest of ABS filament - but I never tried white ABS.

Does this need to withstand a lot of heat?  Is it going to be in a car or something?

In general to increase quality lower speed.  I would increase layer height to 0.1mm and cut the speed down to 25mm/sec.  Heat/fan control is critical to get extra good quality but too much fan and you get incredibly weak ABS parts.  Yet with PLA it's so simple - just put fan at 100% and you get very strong parts and very beautiful.

What was your fan speed for this?  And can you use PLA instead?

 

Hi gr5,

Thanks for the reply. The design will need to withstand some heat, so that is why I chose ABS. The current fan speed setting is at default (regular 20%, maximum 100%), the print speed 45 mm/s, travel speed 120 mm/s, retraction enable.

[gr5 2,224]

Well I'd start with a different color. Anything other than white. Then I'd also enclose the printer - put an open box on top and something covering the front. You want a big hole in the back for the bowden. Then I'd set bed to 100C to get the air warmer (and to keep parts from curling off the glass). Then I'd set the fan to 30% and the print speed to 20mm/sec and print a cube and check the corners. If they look bad then increase fan to 100% and see if they are better (but now the part will likely be weak along layer lines). In general higher fan and slower printer speed = better quality particularly for those walls/corners.

[yellowshark 153]

You will find PLA so much easier to print than ABS and nGen is just as easy as PLA, plus it handles hotter temps and for me does stick to the bed better (PLA is great for sticking but nGen just sticks better). A part I did for inside the car cabin warped with PLA but has been fine so far with nGen. You will want 240-245 minimum; people have different views but so far I have found no difference between 0% fan and 40-50% fan

[gr5 2,224]

 

@GTK2011 - to summarize me and yellowshark: ABS is a difficult material and hard to get it to look as nice and still be even half as strong as PLA. There are other materials that can handle higher heat than PLA. How hot is this part likely to get?

[nilrog 103]

These days...if you are mainly after heat resistance...there is PLA available that can withstand >100C.

One of them is Extrudr Greentec.

[LePaul 331]

nGen prints well, it takes some trial and error to get the settings right....but I have grown to love the stuff

However, if your part needs some strength, nGen is a tad weaker than PLA and you might want to consider the newer filaments Ultimaker offers (Nylon, CP, etc)

[gr5 2,224]

I don't think he cares about strength - just heat resistance.