There are many applications for 3D printing. For example, companies use 3D printing technology to develop product prototypes, and some schools also use 3D printers to assist in producing teaching materials or fulfilling students' design ideas.
This time, 3DMart received 3D printing委托 from industrial design students at a university to help them realize their design concepts. They all happened to be designing shoes, each with different characteristics. In this article, we will introduce their design process.
The first yellow women's shoe design is Li's work, primarily created for her graduation project. The design inspiration combines tree roots, bone density modeling, and a reticular vascular pattern, resulting in a very elegant and novel women's shoe. It targets fashion-conscious young women aged 25-35.
Li stated that she used 3D printing technology to complete this shoe because the shoe model has a complex shape and requires high precision. Choosing a 3D printer for the manufacturing process was also simpler, and the final product achieved a high level of completion.
Due to many hollow parts in the design, an Ultimaker 3 dual-nozzle 3D printer had to be used, allowing PLA to be paired with water-soluble support material PVA, eliminating concerns about endless support removal and rough surfaces after support removal.
In Cura's settings, we minimized PVA usage to avoid material waste and reduce soaking time. The total printing time was approximately 2 days.
The image shows a yellow women's shoe being 3D printed (print layer thickness: 0.15mm, infill density: 30%).
This decision to design shoes for the graduation project came from a professor's suggestion. During its industrial college period, the Industrial Design Department at United University primarily focused on shoe design, later transitioning to product design. This time, there was a desire to revisit their original intention and challenge their past strength in shoe design again.
The second black neutral design shoe is Wang's work. Inspired by architectural structures, it combines the versatile shapes of bridges and designs of varying density to create a unique shoe product with an architectural structure. The target audience is people aged 20-40, from young adults to middle-aged individuals, who pursue fashion trends, have personality, and prefer neutral styles.
The purpose of designing this shoe was to flexibly apply the recently learned generative design software to create a unique, fashionable shoe with an architectural structure for this project.
Using generative design software to create the design files, one only needs to adjust some parameters to create a wide variety of shapes and styles.
Due to the highly complex shape of this product design, it is difficult to manufacture manually. 3D printing, however, can perfectly print precise proportions, achieving the required level of detail without error.
Since the shoe has many suspended and hollow features, it is essential to use water-soluble support PVA during printing to avoid troublesome post-processing. As seen in the image, this shoe uses even more PVA, almost covering the entire shoe, resulting in a printing time of up to 8 days.
The image shows a newly printed black shoe (print layer thickness: 0.15mm, infill density: 30%).
Black neutral design shoe printed with Ultimaker 3 extended 3D printer
The ability to achieve high quality even with such long printing times, without encountering problems during the printing process, is what makes the Ultimaker series 3D printers so remarkable.
The third project is a functional and aesthetic roller skate design commissioned by Lu for 3D printing. Feeling that current roller skates on the market are limited by functionality, resulting in overly uniform appearances, Lu aimed to design roller skates that maintain a sleek feel while possessing aesthetic appeal.
The target audience for the product is young people interested in roller skating as entertainment, offering customizable roller skates.
This project attempts to use the latest technology – 3D printing – to challenge the possibilities that 3D printed shoes can achieve. The 3D modeling software Grasshopper was used to create flowing effects.
The design features many irregular perforated components that are difficult to create with other manufacturing methods. 3D printing allows for easy and rapid generation of the required models. Not only can objects be customized quickly, but unique models can also be produced; compared to virtual 3D renderings, it provides a more intuitive understanding of the physical object's size and shortcomings.
During the manufacturing process, it is important to pay attention to where supports are placed, as this can affect the model's appearance. The choice of material will also impact post-processing and painting.
These parts (divided into multiple sections) were printed using an Ultimaker 3 extended 3D printer, all using TPE material with PLA support. The thin top sections are flexible and can be freely bent.
Although 3D printed shoes currently have some material limitations and are not yet widely used in the market, we believe that with continuous improvements in 3D printers and the introduction of new materials in the future, 3D printed shoes will become more widely accepted and chosen by the public.
That concludes this exciting sharing of 3D printed shoe designs!
The students' creativity is truly astonishing, with designs that are not only beautiful but also unique. Compared to the past, students now have the option of using 3D printers for model making, allowing more unexpected ideas to be achieved more easily and conveniently.
3DMart is honored to assist these bright students in completing their important academic projects. We wish them all high marks and an endless source of inspiration.