UPDATED: 3D Printed Hollow Form Object

Introduction

For this project, we are required to make a self-supporting 3D printable form. To do so, we designed 5 concepts and used the information and skills learned from this semester to create shapes and forms in Rhino to then be 3D printed and have as a physical form.

Concepts

For my concepts, I played with tools in Rhino such as loft (and tested out the different styles), cap, trim, sweep1, sweep2, Boolean union, etc.) At this stage, I was focused on playing with the tools and seeing what kinds of shapes I could create with them.

Final Design Outcome

For my final design outcome, I made sure to pay attention to the printability of the object to ensure the best chances of it being printed cleanly. I considered the angles of the slopes and if the object could stand on its own (supportive base and not top-heavy). For this object, I drew straight and curved lines to add variation. I played with the rotation of these closed shapes and thought about designing the object in a vertical manner much like how the 3D printer will create the object.

Prusa Silver (images and overview will be added after printed)

After simulating my final object in the program Prusa Silver, I found a problem. With that particular form, the angle near the bottom, in particular, was too shallow creating the stair-stepping effect where the filament didn't sit on top of each row creating gaps thus making the object look messy and less refined. I played around with the height and width of the object in rhino and then simulated it in Prusa again, however, I couldn't get a clean enough outcome that was up to my standards so decided to create a new object instead.

New Direction

For my new object, I decided to play off my other papercraft design and implement the 5-point star into this design. I used the loft command and kept the edges straight similar to the papercraft project. I moved the points in the loft command to create a spiral effect between the three vertical star shapes. After simulating the print in Prusa, I found that this object would print much better than my first design and I was happy I took the time to redesign the object for printing.