Generate supports for additive manufacturing in Netfabb

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Netfabb provides support generation tools to help place and create supports either manually, or automatically using support scripts.

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In this example, the part is already oriented in Netfabb and placed in the machine workspace.

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Note that while a metal 3D printing process will be used to manufacture this part,

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support generation capabilities can also be applied to technologies like resin or extrusion-based printing.

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On the Home tab of the ribbon, in the Support panel, click Generate Supports.

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This opens the Support module and the contextual ribbon displays.

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In this example, in the context view, click Analysis to view the Cluster detection.

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This shows critical areas that require support in red, and is where you typically begin your support generation process.

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Select a red area to apply a support manually using the tools,

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such as Create New Bar, Create New Polyline, and Create New Volume, which are available on the contextual ribbon.

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Alternatively, select a red area, then right-click and choose from pre-configured options.

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Here, Create volume support on cluster is selected, and then the support is applied to the part.

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To remove a support, simply select it, then click Remove selection on the ribbon.

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To automate the Support Generation process, you can use support scripts.

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These combine cluster detection, support types, and support actions to automatically generate supports.

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In the context view, click Support scripts, then expand the menu to view the available, predefined scripts.

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In this example, select SLM.

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Here, you can see the defined support actions for this script.

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Execute the script.

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A Progress dialog displays as critical areas are analyzed and supports generated.

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Now, you can see the standard supports for the SLM process applied to the part,

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and you can review the automatically generated supports

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to see where adjustment or reinforcement may be needed to optimize your support structure.