Traditional textiles made of braided thread are very useful materials. Sara Alvarez successfully produced fabric like materials through 3D printing. Although they are not exactly the same, they have some similar characteristics, which makes them unique and useful.
Fabric is made of many threads woven into a cohesive whole. [Sara]’s 3D printed fabric is different because the printer cannot weave individual fibers together. Instead, use several methods to create similar materials.
Perhaps the simplest method is the chain mail method, in which many small individual links are connected together to form a relatively rigid material. Alternatively, you can use G code or careful modeling to create fabric like patterns that are printed directly in flexible materials to form fabric like sheets. Finally, the filling method uses the built-in code of the slicer to create a pattern that can be printed in 3D, and creates fabric like materials by removing the printed top and bottom layers.
[Sara] demonstrated how to create a simple “fabric” sample using the slicer method and demonstrated the quality of the finished product. She also showed various applications that can take advantage of this technology.
If you are a 3D printing enthusiast and also like making clothes and clothes, you can consider printing some shoes, as we have seen before. Play the video after the break.