product focus
2012
3ds Max Design certain level of skill and commitment is still required to create and produce with CAD or BIM and that will always be the case. Those who have direct access to a 3DP machine have an advantage in design 3DP models. Since these are all tools, if you don’t know your tool, it makes things more difficult. To create elegant solutions, you need to know the limits. The aspect of fragility pertains more to the processes internal to the machine like depowdering and handling during infiltration than to the finished product itself. We create very thin elements in our models, but understand how they need to be handled en route.
our favor. This project had five sections of about eight floors each. Each one was printed vertically. I slipped thin cardboard underneath to move it from the machine and do the final depowdering. For the infiltration step, I brushed cyanoacrylate (SuperGlue) on the edges of the floor plates. This way I could handle it then dip the whole piece into a bath of the stuff without breaking it. The result is super-thin yet strong pieces that were not thickened for presentation purposes but true to size, which is important in maintaining the audience’s interest and lends legitimacy.
Figure 6: 3D Printed model
Just as 3DP model creation on the software end needs to be an integrated approach, the same is true on the output end. Hybrid models using traditional materials as well as 3DP is often what the project calls for. We have had success in designing the whole model in 3ds Max Design and then going to 3DP for most elements and for other ones to derive the templates from that computer model. This way, the exchanges with the clients during the process are realistic, and in the end when it’s built, the surprise factor is eliminated. Maximizing the life of the Revit model in the visualization of our projects—even into the physical model creation realm—brings fuller, more accurate, and less expensive production efforts. 3DP models are the reincarnation of visual models in the everlasting life of AEC visual communication.
Figure 5: 3D Printed model
For example, I recently finished a project of an office tower that had very thin floor plates. 3d printers all have size limitations. Our projects don’t necessarily respect these boundaries so we quite often make models from multiple pieces. The trick is to hide the seams. Luckily the precision inherent to this medium works in 42 www.augi.com
From CAD implementation to visualization to the art of leveraging BIM in 3D printing, David has been in the forefront of exploring how we use computers in the architectural design process for almost three decades. His studio Munson3d.com, provides consulting services to architects and engineers and is based in Arlington, Massachusetts, with distant and local clients. He can be reached at David@ Munson3d.com
July 2011