Met3D
Met3D is Meteor's Digital Front End (DFE) software package for binderjet and Industrial Inkjet Additive Manufacturing (AM). Using Meteor's Industrial Inkjet Boards and Head Driver Cards alongside Met3D's complete OEM developer solution, 3D and Additive Manufacturing (AM) Industrial Inkjet Developers now have a fast and efficient way to print STL object files.
Met3D offers the following features and can take you from your existing 3D design application all the way through slicing and output to the inkjet printheads.
+ Slicing & Rasterization
+ Support for grayscale printing
+ Controls for shell formation
+ Specify build box dimensions
+ Resolution 200-1200+ dpi
+ Accepts STL and OBJ input
+ Lattice Infill Feature
Met3D Slideshows
Met3D's Simple User Interface allows for quick job processing.
Users can simply Select Job ➡ Choose Process Settings ➡ Click Go ▶
Job preview shows 3D thumbnail of job being processed.
Process Settings include:
* Slice thickness
* X/Y Resolution
* Drop size for infill area
* Shell and Lattice Infills
* Build Box Dimensions
* And more...
Met3D SlicePacks
Sliced jobs are stored in PDF format where one page = one slice of the object. This feature makes it very easy to review and inspect before printing. Multiple SlicePacks can be stacked in Z-depth to take full advantage of the build box area.
Support for Grayscale Printing
Most inkjet printheads provide variable size droplets. Met3D has many features which take advantage of this capability. Grayscale can be useful for shell and lattice infill, accurate control of fluid deposition, multiple materials, and more.
Flexible Feature Set
Met3D is very flexible and can be adapted for many types of 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing Industrial Inkjet Print Systems. Met3D is an extremely valuable software tool for any inkjet development lab.
Met3D Videos
Basics of Met3D
Met3D Slice Packs
Slice Pack/Multi (Stacking)
Met3D offers Shell and Lattice Infill
One of the many benefits of using a grayscale printhead is the ability to produce shell and lattice infills. Both of these features can provide improvements to the strength and durability of the printed object, each in a different way.
Shell makes the exterior surface stronger by using larger drops in the outer boundaries of the object. Larger drops equates to higher density and/or a stronger binding of the sand or powder being printed on. You might ask "why not just use larger drops in the entire volume of the object?" Too much fluid applied to each layer can cause uneven drying resulting in sacrificed structural strength.
There are other practical reasons for using the shell feature. Using less fluid will save money, and the part will dry faster too. Having a stronger shell also helps during the de-powdering process to protect the objects surface from damage.
Example of slice with perimeter shell
Lattice Infill makes the interior of the object stronger. Similar to how corrugation layers make cardboard boxes stronger, using vertical walls made of larger drop sizes will make the entire object stronger, lighter, and will speed the drying process as well. Met3D currently offers two lattice patterns with several variations in lattice structure.
Shell and Lattice Infill can be used together or independently. Together they can deliver stronger, lighter, faster drying objects. Since using these features will require less raw material (binder fluid) there will be a cost savings as well.
Met3D offers control over these parameters for Shell and Lattice Infill:
◾ Shell Thickness
◾ Infill Density
◾ Lattice Pattern Choice
◾ Lattice Pattern Cell Size
◾ Lattice Wall Thickness
◾ Lattice Infill Density
◾ Lattice Wall Density
The graphic below identifies the areas of variability:
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