Designing [with] 3D Printed Textiles

Abstract

This master thesis is the result of a graduation project for the master Integrated Product Design the faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology. The title of this thesis is Designing [with] 3D Printed Textiles. The main assignment is to design a meaningful garment using 3D-printed textiles. The approach that was adopted for this project is a recently developed method on Material Driven Design (MDD), which suggests a number of steps to design meaningful products when a material is the departure point. As this method has not yet been applied on a project involving AM, another goal is to explore how the MDD method can be used in a project where AM is the primary production method. 3D-printed textiles as a material category are influenced by material, structure and process (MSP), which cannot be seen apart from each other and influence each other. In order to gain an understanding of the MSP, a number of samples of 3D Printed textiles were obtained. Some samples were collected from AM service providers, designers, and open-source design databases, while others were specifically designed and 3D Printed for this project. It was found that different combinations of MSP result in different materials that can have different, meaningful applications in different contexts. An analysis of traditional textiles found that flexibility is the most important property for textiles, since without flexibility no wearable garment can be produced. It is possible to divide textiles into four levels: garment, textile, yarn and fiber. Each level has a main structure, which results in a hierarchical structure for the overall material. This hierarchical structure is responsible for most of the mentioned properties that are desirable in textiles, such as flexibility, warmth, softness, and absorption. In order to obtain the same structure for 3D-printed textiles, it is important to find a way to mimic this structure. Since flexibility was found to be the most important property for textiles, a classification for 3D-printed textiles is proposed based on the main source of the flexibility, i.e. the structure or the material. Structure-based refers to the fact that the flexibility is obtained purely by the application of an appropriate structure, regardless of the material used. This kind of flexibility is obtained by means of multiple assemblies. Material-based refers to the fact that the flexibility is obtained purely due to the characteristics of the material, by the use of flexible materials such as elastomers. Finally, an overlapping category can be distinguished which uses both material- and structure-based principles, named thin structures. The experiential characteristics of 3D-printed textiles were examined by means of a number fo samples. The samples elicited movement in order to explore the flexibility of the material, by means of shaking, throwing and caressing the samples. ‘Playfulness’ and ‘surprising’ were found as pre-settled meanings, for which the flexibility of the material and the fact that they were 3D Printed contributed most. The latter also elicited a positive reaction, since the 3D Printing process is still perceived as new, exciting, and innovative. A vision statement was created that described the interaction with the material. It was formulated as: I want people to have an attachment to their 3D Printed garment in order to extend its life span, by creating a personally engaging experience, like the act of blowing bubbles. ‘Blowing bubbles’ is used as a metaphor, illustrating a simple, engaging act that is familiar to everyone. Making the biggest bubbles is a challenge, and watching the light react on them is a pleasure; they are engaging to make and engaging to watch. Two meanings were distilled from this metaphor: intriguing and familiar, The meaning intriguing is related to the engaging experience, which will keep being interesting and surprising over time, while the meaning familiar can be described as ‘a friendly relationship based on frequent association’, comparable to a favourite jeans that has been worn many times. These meanings were translated to material qualities, which form the requirements for the new material together with the requirements found from the context analysis. On a material level, the 3D Printed textile should be suitable for use in garments, and thereby withstand a number of technical requirements, such as flexibility, tear resistance, breathability and water resistance. There are also a number of experiential qualities for the material that are related to creating a textile that is comfortable to use. Softness, smoothness, warmth, lustre and coarseness are examples of these qualities. One of the tested MSP’s was thought to be most suitable for use as a textile and its fit to the vision. However, for this MSP the structure and process were found appropriate, the material was not suited for use as a textile. Therefore, a number of experiments were conducted with different materials. The material that showed the best results and had the best fit with the intended vision was a mixture of cellulose fibers with a flexible acrylic. Although this material is not suitable for 3D-printing yet, it does give an impression of what the material should be like in the future. A concept was developed using this MSP. In order to do so, the unique properties of the MSP were analysed: its aesthetics are most prevalent, most notably the pattern that resembles lace and is somewhat prevailing. It is also very suitable to produce property gradients (i.e. making the pattern smaller and higher decreases the flexibility of the material), therefore it makes sense to use it for applications where this quality could be used to the fullest. By means of several brainstorm sessions, the most valuable product direction was found to be bras, since they have a combination of supportive and comfort functions. The choice was made to design a corselet, in order to demonstrate the versatility of the selected MSP. The fact that 3D Printing significantly reduces the number of process steps necessary and the amount of waste material, means it has the potential to contribute to environmental sustainability. The total impact of the product was evaluated by means of a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), and compared to traditional manufactured textiles for 1 kg of textile. The results of the analysis were compared to those of traditional textiles, and it was found that the environmental impact of the 3D Printed textile is comparable to those of woven textiles with a yarn thickness of 300 dtex.