Origami-inspired infill pattern for additive manufacturing
Weijun Shen, Zhan Zhang, Gül E. Okudan Kremer, Hantang Qin
Abstract
Infill patterns determine the interior structure of additively manufactured parts and significantly affect the part’s print time, strength, and weight. In this research, a new origami-inspired structure is proposed as an infill pattern for material deposition-based additive manufacturing applications. Origami techniques derived from antique paper folding arts have been applied to solve engineering problems such as space-saving structures and rapid deployment for their foldability. Recently, origami techniques have also shown another potential in mechanical reinforcement for structural designs. Studies have shown that the mechanical behavior can be significantly improved by combining origami patterns to tubular or box structures. This paper applies a Kresling-inspired structure as the infill pattern for additive manufacturing (AM) to achieve a better lateral compression performance. Fused filament fabrication (FFF) is selected as the testbed for the origami-inspired infill patterns. Results showed that the samples with origami infills had higher ultimate compressive strength, stiffness, and energy absorption than samples with grid or honeycomb infill patterns. This novel structural reinforcement method can be expanded to crash-worthy structures, functional structures, and the design of lightweight, high-strength parts.