MARCH 20 - NONLINEAR FDM TOOLPATHS PART 2

 

The first attempt at this print was a link wonky because of an issue in the grasshopper definition I was using that caused the machine to crash into the bowl. For this initial test we just stopped the print and manually extruded a certain amount, as well as manually moved the print bed to simulate what the print would have been.

This experiment taught me that the speed of the movement was the most important thing for free-flowing noodles. That, and turning off the fan while it extrudes so it cools as slowly as possible. I needed to let gravity and the air do half the work for me. 

The first experiment (tiny 2cm diameter version) suffered from some very stiff noodles because of the speed we printed it at. 

The bottom of the bowl was a little warped as well because the print was exactly at 0 on the Z axis rather than being slightly above. This was also probably due to the extrusion factor. 


The next version of the print we attempted took a few tries to narrow down the extrusion factor and speed. It took a few tries just to print the bowl evenly but once we had it, the noodles were also a success. 
Above is the final print. Once we turned up the speed 200% and turned the fan off, it printed quite successfully. There were a few moments of the filament sticking to itself unexpectedly, which meant it clung to one side of the bowl.

But overall it answered the question of "Can I print noodles in the air?"
If I had more time with this project I would try even more filament as noodles to see if I could stack it up and tower over the bowl...



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