Hello, my name is Jack Forman. I’m a current graduate student at the MIT Media Lab, Tangible Media Group. In my research, I leverage my background in materials science as a means to explore and develop interesting materials behaviors, and use those exploration in the development of new materials interfaces and fabrication techniques. Today I’ll be presenting DefeXtiles: 3D printing quasi woven interfaces via under extrusion.
DefeXtiles can be produced using a standard fused deposition modeling 3D printer, and require no modifications to the software or hardware. With DefeXtiles we can print thin flexible substrates that are stretchable, see-through, and have a fabric like feel.
These fabrics can be printed in a variety of shapes, such as dresses, or with a variety of materials. In this case, TPU for an ultra-tough Badminton Shuttlecock. We can also print extremely long lengths with DefeXtiles. In this case, a 70m roll of textile produced in a single print on that printer. Let’s get into the details.
In HCI there has been interest developing approaches for additive manufacturing of formed textiles to combine the precise and rapid nature of digital fabrication with the soft and flexible affordance of textiles. However, many 3D printed fabric projects are more similar to chainmail. The ones that get closer to the feature size of real textiles require specialized hardware our software, limiting their dissemination, and are limited in their print speeds and supported geometries.
In this work we present an alternative that allows flexible, thin textiles of many materials to be quickly printed into arbitrary forms with tunable properties using a unmodified, inexpensive 3D printers
Our approach leverages a common cause of print failure in 3D printing: underextrusion, which causes prints to look like the images on the left . While “defects” have a bad reputation, in materials science they are critical in engineer materials to have new properties. A defect is often seen as a feature when it can be controlled.
In this work we show that by carefully tuning our extrusion multiplier and print speed, we can introduce periodic gap defect that afford our prints with flexibility and textile like aesthetics
Here is an upclose of the printing process. Essentially, as the nozzle moves a glob of thermoplastic build up on the tip, this glob with snag the top of a pillar, connected to the next pillar by a fine strand.
As you can see, the fine strands that connect the pillars can bend in plane, affording stretch and flexibility.
Changing print speed and extrusion multiplier allows us to control the density, flexibility, and stretchability of our textiles. Defextiles allows sheets to be printed as speeds up to 12,000 millimeters per minute. The maximum speed of our printer.
We also performed characterization on DefeXtiles printed with a variety of common 3D printing materials. We preferred to use PLA, as it had nice strength and flexibility, and was very easy to print.
Defextiles are also very thin, around .3 mm. As a stress test, we filled a print volume with a defextile roll, and could produce 70m roll in a single print,
Our approach is particularly unique in that we can support curvature along the z-axis to create more complex geomtried than previously possible. As shown with the miura-ori swatch on the right.
Here we showcase a variety of different application the defextiles design space enables. An ultra-tough shuttlecock printed with tau 2) a dancing man tendon actuator which required no post processing 3) a interactive lampashade where the lampshade, solid supports, and conductive pads were produce in a single print and 4) a variety of dresses that could be used as a tangible augmentation of online shopping.
We can combine the shape complexity with the scale for full-sized try ons. In this case a skirt is segmented and compressed to fit within the printer and printed in under 36 hours. Once removed the skirt in depleated and heat bonded, and can be used to check the fit of a garment.
We can also pattern surfaces in a variety of way.
Here is an example of a few of these technique, demonstrated with lace-like swatches. The first is a pattern where the two components are produced with the same density, the next a solid+textile combination, the third a variation in the mesh density, and the fourth contrast pillar directions.
While post processing isn’t necessary with DefeXtiles, we outline a variety of processes. Including this iron on pocket which can be fused to a conventional textile shirt.
There are some limitations and future work included limited overhang angles, and in future work we would like to see more durable materials and more sustainable filaments. As well as looking at things like surgical meshes with tunable shape and mechanical properties.
I’d like to conclude by thanking my coauthors: Doga Dogan, Hamilton Forsythe, and Hiroshi Ishii.
Thanks you for listening and I hope that you enjoy trying printing these textiles for yourself. I will now time travel to the present, where I am happy to answer any questions on the approach. Thank you again.