SLM Solutions’ Free Float Software Reduces 3D Printing Support Structures

SLM Solutions’ Free Float software used for the creation of metal components empowers the creation of previously impossible designs and lower costs, the company says. The software is said to reduce supports and, in some cases, remove them completely without increasing build time, thereby enabling increased productivity, reduced overall material usage and minimized end-part cost to achieve industrial-scale production.

According to the company, the software also enables better part quality, sharper edges and a smoother finish. Free Float is said to give users the ability to design bolder, freer and with fewer limitations to work faster and more productively.

Support structures can sometimes limit the design of the main component and can be a substantial section of the overall part volume, increasing material usage which, by default, increases cost. The supports also need to be removed later during the postprocessing phase. Those factors led SLM Solutions to search for a support-free alternative.

Free Float was first discovered in 2017 as as research project byproduct with further research and development leading to the current software. The company says the software’s vector technology establishes thermal management that significantly decreases net build time while simultaneously enhancing part quality, especially in the case of overhang areas, which can now free float like the branches of a tree.

The software is designed to offer seamless useability with three profiles — low, medium and high — to give users their desired outcomes. Free Float can be retrofitted on many previously built systems, including the SLM 280 Production Series, the SLM 280 2.0, the SLM 500, the SLM800 and the NXG Xll 600.