Fractals and Additive Manufacturing

Abstract

Fractal geometry can create virtual models of complex shapes as CAD data, and from these additive manufacturing can directly create physical models. The virtual-model-building capacity of fractal geometry and the physical-model-building capacity of additive manufacturing can be integrated to deal with the design and manufacturing of complex shapes. This study deals with the manufacture of fractal shapes using commercially available additive manufacturing facilities and 3D CAD packages. Particular interest is paid to building physical models of an IFS-created fractal after remodeling it for manufacturing. This article introduces three remodeling methodologies based on binary-grid, convex/concave-hull, and line-model techniques. The measurements of the manufactured fractal shapes are also reported, and the degree of accuracy that can be achieved by the currently available technology is shown.