Stretching the Bounds of 3D Printing with Embedded Textiles

TLDR

Textiles, an established technology known for their foldability, stretchability, softness, and shape‑retention under tension, contrast with 3D printing’s precision in creating rigid, custom‑geometry objects, and their combination promises rigid items with embedded flexibility and soft materials with added functionality. The paper introduces techniques for integrating 3D printing with textiles during the printing process, creating a new design space inspired by both fields. The authors develop methods that embed textiles directly into the 3D printing workflow, enabling simultaneous creation of rigid and flexible components. The study shows that textiles’ malleability, stretchability, and aesthetics improve rigid printed objects, while 3D printing augments textiles with functional properties.

Abstract

Textiles are an old and well developed technology that have many desirable characteristics. They can be easily folded, twisted, deformed, or cut; some can be stretched; many are soft. Textiles can maintain their shape when placed under tension and can even be engineered with variable stretching ability. Conversely, 3D printing is a relatively new technology that can precisely produce functional, rigid objects with custom geometry. Combining 3D printing and textiles opens up new opportunities for rapidly creating rigid objects with embedded flexibility as well as soft materials imbued with additional functionality. In this paper, we introduce a suite of techniques for integrating 3D printing with textiles during the printing process, opening up a new design space that takes inspiration from both fields. We demonstrate how the malleability, stretchability and aesthetic qualities of textiles can enhance rigid printed objects, and how textiles can be augmented with functional properties enabled by 3D printing.