Designing Metamaterial Cells to Enrich Thermoforming 3D Printed Object for Post-Print Modification

Abstract

In this paper, we present a metamaterial structure called thermoformable cells, TF-Cells, to enrich thermoforming for post-print modification. So far, thermoforming is limitedly applied for modifying a 3D printed object due to its low thermal conductivity. TF-Cells consists of beam arrays that affluently pass hot air and have high heat transference. Through heating the embedded TF-Cells of the printed object, users can modify not only the deeper area of the object surface but also its form factor. With a series of technical experiments, we investigated TF-Cells’ thermoformability, depending on their structure’s parameters, orientations, and heating conditions. Next, we present a series of compound cells consisting of TF-Cells and solid structure to adjust stiffness or reduce undesirable shape deformation. Adapting the results from the experiments, we built a simple tool for embedding TF-Cells into a 3D model. Using the tool, we implemented examples under contexts of mechanical fitting, ergonomic fitting, and aesthetic tuning.