I modelled a reproduction of the architecture of plain weave fabric. This was a research project I did some time ago to try to understand at what scale it was possible to push commercial SLA printers to print fabric. It can also be printed with SLS or FDM tech, albeit at larger scales.

There are two files - one intended for SLA and one for FDM.

This is meant to print with flexible materials, its purpose is to be as close as possible to real fabric. Therefore, it is not rigid and made up of multiple parts. Its use is more educational and experimental/research oriented. I'm sure it can be patterned to create bigger and more functional prints, but I kept this small so it would have the best chance of printing success.

I share this with the hope that it can inspire someone in the community to try a crazy new project or dive deeper into the subject of reproducing fabrics with 3D printing. I have other fabric designs I will be sharing down the line if people find this interesting.

For now, that is all. Let me know if you have any questions, I will be glad to answer. Cheers!

The SLA sample is designed to be printed at the given scale, roughly 3x3 cm, it has a prebuilt raft to aid stability and improve printing success. It was printed using clear flex resin, but it can be printed with any flexible resin. The raft can easily be cut afterwards.

The FDM sample is a scaled up version so that you may print it with any FDM printer using flexible materials. I removed the raft so you can add your own or choose your own way to print. I only scaled up to 2x, so it will have a roughly 6x6 cm size. Keep in mind this may not be big enough for some printers/nozzles! You may need to use the 0.2mm nozzle, but feel free to experiment and push your printer's abilities. You may notice tiny supports I added to the geometry, they were manually put in place to optimize the success of prints, you can cut them off easily after printing.

Regarding printing specs, there's no one recipe that's optimal, as different flex materials have different printing parameters. I don't have specific printing parameters to give, because I outsourced the printing to a company with SLA printers.

My advice:

Print slow and steady. Make the best judgment you can based on your printer's capabilities, scale up or down the design as you need. Remember, this is experimental - don't be discouraged if the first one fails, I had to make several iterations of geometries, and back and forth with the SLA guys before I could get something that looked nice. The geometry is already optimized for printing, I suggest fiddling around with your printer settings before altering the geometry. However, feel free to use my design and improve upon it. I look forward to it!