Hi,
I am currently looking at a new method that will lower the weight of big print by changing the infill pattern. Does anybody have an idea about how to build “fractal infill”?
Many thanks,
Pierre @ https://www.3dhubs.com/paris/hubs/teocad
3 Likes
MB3D
2
Why should fractal infill be advantageous over other options like honeycomb or rectangular? The only two things that matter for getting a very low weight 3d print are the infill percentage and the outer shell. As the shell is usually stacking one line on the other the shell can be selected to be very thin, there’s no downside (except for instability). The infill patterns does the same, stacking one line on the other, again you can feel free to lower the percentage to your preferences. There’s just one problem that you’ll be facing when 3d printing with low (or zero) infill, that problem will show as that the top layers can’t close the gap between one line of infill and the next one. As the solid top layers are most likely rectangular you should choose an infill pattern that provides the best orientation, so that the top layers can close (only) small gaps when the infill is still very low. The best infill is therefore the rectangular (as it’s printed orthogonal to the first top layer). Try it out if you want to, just compare 5% infill with 2-3 top layers and multiple infill patterns, I bet the rectangular pattern provides the best structure to support the top layers, other awkward patterns may cause the top layers to bridge poorly resulting in holes in the top surface. The only considerably good alternative to the rectangular pattern is the honeycomb pattern. Due to the way that this pattern is designed it can be stronger then the rectangular, especially when force is applied to the side of the print. Also the honeycomb pattern can be printed faster and bridging is still ok, even on low percentages of infill. If you still found a pattern (fractal), that might be more efficient then the rectangular and/or the honeycomb, then please go ahead and explain how that pattern should look like. You can also post pictures on talk, so why not draw the 2d pattern, so that somebody might be able to integrate the pattern into Simplify3D or other slicers. Cheers, Marius Breuer
2 Likes
OMD3D
3
use simplify3d as printing software. this program enables you to use multiple settings for infill on different locations of your print by selecting multple factory settings and selecting these to print for a specific Z range.
Many thanks for your answer.
Do you have any information or test results regarding force that could be applied using different infill pattern and /or wall thickness?
My idea is to assume that wall and the small internal layer are supporting most of the constraints, the heart of the object could be wide empty if all the forces are well distributed. Of course I have no physical consideration yet and it is clearly useful only on particular pieces.
On the top of that I definitely agree that having 3D fractal design will be very hard.
I gona try to build some 2D pattern and look at simply3d to give this idea a try.
Marrying nature with mathematics has enabled the AMRC Design and Prototyping Group (DPG) to push the boundaries of new Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies, cutting cost, manufacturing time and waste.
http://www.amrc.co.uk/featuredstudy/nature-and-mathematics-join-forces-to-cut-the-cost-of-3d-printing/
