What is the primary benefit of using PVA for supports in the Ultimaker machine?

The primary benefit of using PVA (Polyvinyl Alcohol) for supports in the Ultimaker machine is that PVA is water soluble. This property allows users to easily remove support structures after the printing process by simply rinsing them in water. Since PVA dissolves in water, it provides a convenient and effective method to cleanly separate the support material from the main printed object without any mechanical effort, which can be beneficial in achieving a smooth finish on complex geometries.

In contrast, while PVA is biodegradable and available in various colors, these characteristics do not contribute significantly to its function as a support material. The fact that it can be melted away is not applicable to PVA, as this material does not have a melting point in the conventional sense; instead, it dissolves in water. Therefore, the water solubility of PVA is the key feature that makes it an excellent choice for supports in 3D printing, particularly in machines like Ultimaker that support dual-material printing.