Introduction to packing parts in Netfabb

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In preparation for MJF (Multi Jet Fusion) and SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) printing in Netfabb,

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packing is used to arrange multiple parts in the build space in as little space as possible, while avoiding collisions and interlocking problems.

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Netfabb offers multiple packing tools to accommodate various 3D arrangements,

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including simple outbox packing and the more advanced Monte Carlo packer, which is optimized for minimum platform height.

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To view the available tools, click Arrange in the main menu.

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In My Machines, select the machine you wish to open a workspace for.

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In this example, an MJF 580 workspace is opened.

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To add parts, select Home > Add part.

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In the Add Parts dialog, locate and select the appropriate parts file, and then click Open.

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In this case, 47 parts are added from the selected step file.

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The loaded parts are now displayed in the build and listed in the Browser.

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In this example, the parts do not fill the build volume.

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To duplicate the parts, select them in the build, and then, in the main menu, select Duplicate > Same Position.

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In the Duplicate Parts dialog, keep the Total count of 2, then click Duplicate.

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Now, there are 94 total parts.

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Take note of the orientation of the parts.

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For example, as two parts are selected here, you see that each is oriented in the Y direction.

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For this example, a custom menu was created to make it easy to access the necessary packing tools.

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Here, the Custom Menu for Arrange Demo is selected in the main menu.

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To create a custom menu, simply click Settings > Custom Menus,

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and then select New Panel in the Custom menus dialog.

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From here, you can add sub panels and tools from the Netfabb defaults on the left to build your custom menu on the right.

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Click Cancel to close the dialog.

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To begin packing, in the build, select the parts that you want to pack.

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Then in the custom menu, click Simple Packing.

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In the Simple bounding box packing dialog, ensure that the Packing Dimensions are set to in 3D, and then adjust the packing options.

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In this case, the Minimal Part Distance, Voxel size, and Distance to side Walls (XY) are all set to 5.

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Click Pack Platform.

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Now, the parts are packed.

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Notice that the orientation of the parts observed previously is still the same, in the Y direction.

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This packer does not rotate the parts, but simply places them in the build volume based on their bounding box.

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As a result, not all parts fit.

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To address this, try using a different packer.

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In this case, select 3D Packing MonteCarlo, which randomizes part position and orientation.

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In the 3D packing – Monte Carlo dialog, you can select your initial part rotation—either Arbitrary, Around Z axis only, or No rotation.

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If, for example, you manually oriented your parts, you may want to select Around Z axis only,

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so that the top surface does not change on your parts.

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Click the Parts tab for additional options, such as controlling the priority of packing a part, as well as the rotation allowed.

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These settings allow you to have carefully aligned vital parts surrounded by many small, less important parts.

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Back on the Settings tab, keep the Minimum Distance between items and the Distance from side walls (XY) set to 5 mm,

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the Performance set to Fast, and Visualize part motion enabled.

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Click Start Packing.

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The parts fill the build volume, and you can close the dialog.

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Zooming into the build volume, notice that the parts are rotated as needed and packed more densely than the simple outbox method.

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For example, the selected part now fits within the bounding box of another part, rather than staying on the outside.

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If you look at the overall build volume, you see that there is now extra space,

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with a packed height of 190 mm out of the 250 mm or so that is available.

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In contrast, the simple outbox method was not able to fit all parts.

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Now you can apply packing methods to your parts to view how items are packed using the different methods

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and to determine the optimal method for packing your parts.