Introduction to -Filament Grouping Strategy for Dual Nozzle Printers
- -1. Background
- -When switching between different filaments for -printing on a single nozzle (hotend) printer, it is -necessary to use -a certain amount of new material to flush the residual material in the hotend, to avoid color mixing during printing. The flushing -values vary between different materials, and the specific values can be viewed -on the filament page of Bambu Studio. You can refer to the wiki to learn more: Reduce Waste during Filament Change
- -For a dual-nozzle (hotend) -printer like the H2D, the optimal way to print two filaments is to print -different filaments with different nozzles. In this case, switching between -filaments only requires switching the nozzles rather than flushing the old -filament with the new one. Switching nozzle printing can also reduce the number -of filament flushes when printing more than two filaments. This article will -introduce filament grouping strategies for dual-nozzle printers to achieve the -most efficient or convenient multi-material printing method.
- -2. Multi-color printing -sequence
- -Different printing sequences have different -filament switching sequences, resulting in differences in the flushing volume. -The slicer will calculate an optimal printing sequence based on the flushing -volume between the filaments, to minimize the waste amount. For example, if the -total flushing amount of filament sequence 1->2->3 is greater than that -of 1->3->2, the latter will tend to be used as the printing sequence for -this layer. For detailed information on manually adjusting print sequences, -please refer to: Set the filament printing sequence -for different layers
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The flushing amount obtained through the automatic
- allocation of the printing sequence |
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The flushing amount obtained through the manual setting of
- the printing sequence |
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3. Grouping -restrictions on filaments
- -Due to the physical limitations of the printer, -different nozzles have their own printable area limits (Introduction to the printable range -of H2D dual nozzles). As shown in the figure below, when the part of -the model printed with a filament is placed in the left nozzle or right nozzle -only area, then it can only be printed using the corresponding nozzle.
- -In addition, based on the physical design of the -toolhead and the characteristics of the material, each nozzle has other -printable filament limitations, with specific limitations as follows
- -Group -restrictions:
- -• -TPU material can only be printed with the right -nozzle. (Priority: High)
- -• -CF and GF materials can only be printed with the -left nozzle. (Priority: High)
- -• -When the height of the part exceeds 320 mm, it -should be placed in the printable area of the right nozzle. (Priority: Medium)
- -• -When parts are placed in the left-nozzle-only or -right-nozzle-only area, they need to be grouped to the corresponding nozzle for -printing. (Priority: Medium)
- -• -Filament can be printed with both left and right -nozzles, it's recommended to print with the right nozzle. (Priority: Low)
- -4. Filament-saving mode
- -Since material switching between different nozzles -does not require flushing, the entire flushing amount comes from switching -filaments from the same nozzle. To -reduce filament waste during switching, the filaments with a large -switching volume should be assigned to separate nozzles. The default -material grouping strategy used in Bambu Studio is the filament-saving mode. -You can see a total of 3 modes in the floating window of the slicing button. -Select "Filament-Saving Mode" and click on slicing to obtain the most -filament-saving printing. The logic of this strategy is briefly introduced in -the following sections.
- -When you set the pairing relationship between AMS -and the left and right nozzles, and synchronize the AMS information in Bambu -Studio, the slicer can calculate how many filaments are connected to each -nozzle. If no AMS is connected to -the printer, the slicer defaults to allowing the nozzle to load one filament -through the external spool. Then the slicer can achieve an optimal filament -grouping to ensure minimum flushing waste is attained under the calculated printing -sequence. The principle is to group the filaments with more common layers and -larger flushing amounts into as many different nozzle groups as possible.
- -To sum up, the grouping algorithm mainly needs to -consider the following points, and the priority of each point is reduced in -order.
- -1. -Whether the material is a non-printable filament -for the nozzle;
- -2. -The upper limit of filament in AMS connected to the -nozzle;
- -3. -Minimize the filament flushing amount;
- -4. -Minimize the color gap (Delta E) to the filament in -the AMS connected to the nozzle;
- -Since -the grouping logic is more inclined to reduce the flushing amount rather than -the closest color, after slicing, the user needs to check whether the filaments -are placed in the corresponding AMS of the left and right nozzles according to -the "Filament Grouping", and appropriately adjust the position of -each filament in the AMS. Otherwise, the filament automatically assigned to the -nozzle may not be selected in the sending task window.
- -As shown in the following GIF, once the sliced filament is assigned to a specific nozzle, it cannot be -forcibly changed to a filament from another nozzle when sending the task. Even -if there is a filament of a closer color from the other nozzle. So we can only manually adjust the position of filaments in -AMS to achieve the most filament-saving printing.
- -5. Convenient mode
- -Unlike the filament-saving mode, the convenient -mode groups filaments entirely according to the filaments placed in the AMS, -regardless of the sliced model. Under this strategy, efforts will be made to -match the filament grouping results as closely as possible with the filaments -placed in AMS (color, type, etc.).
- -This option tends to group based on the user's -existing filament placement, which may -waste more filaments for flushing, and in most cases, there is no need to -adjust the position of the filaments separately. Suitable for scenarios where -users are not near the printer and remotely initiate multi-material printing -tasks. We suggest that you resynchronize the AMS filament information -before using this mode for slicing. You can select "Convenient Mode" -in the floating window of the slicing button, and the sliced filaments will be -grouped according to the actual filaments placed in your AMS. After slicing, it -can be seen that the optimal grouping (filament-saving mode) saves more -filament amount compared to the convenient mode.
- -The grouping algorithm under this strategy mainly -considers the following points, with the priority of each point decreasing in -order:
- -1. -Whether the material is a non-printable filament -for the nozzle;
- -2. -Consistency between sliced filaments and filament -material types in AMS;
- -3. -Minimize the color gap (Delta E) to the filament in -the AMS connected to the nozzle;
- -6. Custom mode
- -Suppose you are not satisfied with the auto -filament grouping strategy. In that case, you can click on "Regroup -filament" in "Filament Grouping", and then manually adjust the -filaments in the left and right nozzles in "Custom". After slicing -again, you can see that the optimal grouping (most filament-saving) method -saves more filaments than manual grouping. Note: -Filament-saving strategy only considers saving filaments, so sometimes there -may be more filament changes in filament-saving mode than in convenient or -manual mode, which is normal.
- -You can also directly select "Custom -Mode" in the floating window of the slicing button, which will allow you -to customize the group of slicing filaments to the left and right nozzles -before slicing.
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7. Singe Plater and -Multi-Plate settings
- -Single -Plate Settings
- -• -In the single plate slicing interface, in addition -to the floating window settings, a grouping icon is located on the right side -of each printing plate.
- -• -Clicking the icon will pop up a filament group -window, where you can set the filament grouping scheme for the current plate
- -￮ -Automatic Mode: Includes filament-saving mode and -convenience mode
- -￮ -Custom Mode: Supports manual grouping of filament
- -Multi-Plate -Settings
- -• -During multi-plate slicing, the grouping strategy -set in the floating window will be uniformly applied to all printing plates, -overriding their individual settings.
- -• -To configure grouping strategies separately for -each printing plate, please switch to the single plate slicing mode for -operation.
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