When you’re spitting out G-Code for a 3D print, you can pick all kinds of infill settings. You can choose the pattern, and the percentage… but the vast majority of slicers all have one thing in common. They all print layer by layer, infill and all. What if there was another way?
There’s been a lot of chatter in the 3D printing world about the potential of non-planar prints. Following this theme, [TenTech] has developed a system for non-planar infill. This is where the infill design is modulated with sinusoidal waves in the Z axis, such that it forms a somewhat continuous bond between what would otherwise be totally seperate layers of the print. This is intended to create a part that is stronger in the Z direction—historically a weakness of layer-by-layer FDM parts.
Files are on Github for the curious, and currently, it only works with Prusaslicer. Ultimately, it’s interesting work, and we can’t wait to see where it goes next. What we really need is a comprehensive and scientific test regime on the tensile strength of parts printed using this technique. We’ve featured some other neat work in this space before, too. Video after the break.
Unclear: How is this an improvement over (say) cubic infill, or even conventional gyroid?
Really gotta make sure your travels avoid the infill mountains you create this way too.
I swear I’ve seen posts on this for at least the last 10 years.
seperete—>separate
This post will [hopefully] self-destruct.
I’m new to Prusa Slicer. How would I add this? Where would I put the python arguments mentioned in the git repo.
Is there already an article for this: I would love to see a (possibly very crude) multi-material printer which has a second head which can pour some kind of epoxy or glue (maybe just sand??) to fill the voids in the infill very quickly and cheaply, instead of having to spend the time and filament for 100% concentric infill.
It wouldn’t even have to happen after every single layer–it could do a pass every five or ten layers and calculate the volume of the voids in the infill. Just dump it in there.
It would require some trial and error at first, but it seems so doable that I suspect somebody has already done it. You could do it manually by pausing your printer and pouring it yourself every few minutes, but I don’t wanna do that.