Orientable Dense Cyclic Infill for Anisotropic Appearance Fabrication

We present a method to 3D print surfaces exhibiting a prescribed varying field of anisotropic appearance using only standard fused filament fabrication printers. This enables the fabrication of patterns triggering reflections similar to that of brushed metal with direct control over the directionality of the reflections. Our key insight, on which we ground the method, is that the direction of the deposition paths leads to a certain degree of surface roughness, which yields a visual anisotropic appearance. Therefore, generating dense cyclic infills aligned with a line field allows us to grade the anisotropic appearance of the printed surface. To achieve this, we introduce a highly parallelizable algorithm for optimizing oriented, cyclic paths. Our algorithm outperforms existing approaches regarding efficiency, robustness, and result quality. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our technique in conveying an anisotropic appearance on several challenging test cases, ranging from patterns to photographs reinterpreted as anisotropic appearances.

Automated summary

We propose a method for 3D printing surfaces with a prescribed varying field of anisotropic appearance using standard fused filament fabrication printers. By controlling the direction of deposition paths, we can achieve a visual anisotropic appearance similar to brushed metal. Our algorithm for optimizing oriented, cyclic paths outperforms existing approaches in terms of efficiency, robustness, and result quality. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our technique in conveying anisotropic appearance on challenging test cases, including patterns and photographs reinterpreted as anisotropic appearances.