Setting Test Shape [Cura 5.0 Variable Line Width]

In April 2022 Ultimaker released its biggest improvement in Ultimaker Cura 5.0. A new Variable Line Width/Arachne slicing engine. The revolutionary new slicing engine unlocks variable line widths when slicing files.

You can watch the showcase about it here.

In the past, sliced files would use a consistent line width, with the exact width depending on the nozzle diameter and the line width settings used. The result was that when slicing a file, if part of the print was two-and-a-half lines thick, two lines would be generated, with a small gap left between those two lines. With this release, your printed parts will now have fewer internal gaps which means they’ll not only look better, but they’ll be stronger as well.

To explain the newly introduced settings a resource article was published.

You can use this abstract printjob to explore the different settings that are introduced this release:

Wall transition length
Wall distribution count
Wall Transitioning threshold angle
Wall transitioning filter margin
Wall ordering
Minimum wall line width
Odd and even minimum wall line widths
Minimum feature size
Minimum thin wall line width
Flow equalization ratio

Download UltiMaker Cura 5.0 or higher to experiment with these settings.
You can download the latest version of Cura here.

Special thanks to Tim Kuipers, for conducting research on adaptive width 3D printing.
You can read more about his research here.