ABOUT

Fractal Additive aims to use intelligent design to rethink how infill is generated. Rather than creating repeating cellular structures bound by the outer shell of the part, Fractal Infill uses branching support ribs that build up in columns to remove material while increasing strength. The branching rib structure takes advantage of geometry that transfers horizontal loads to act in opposing directions, effectively eliminating the forces that cause warpage and anisotropic failure at the level that is seen in parts with traditional infills.

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Current challenges are most prevalent in slicer integration. The infill is generated in a program outside OEM slicers, resulting in the entire part being recognized as an exterior wall feature. This means that the infill is printed at a much lower speed than is expected, and the true benefit of the material removal cannot currently be realized. Future efforts involve developing a standalone plug-in for the Fractal Infill algorithm that is capable of being integrated into slicer packages. Material savings grow proportionate to part volume, allowing for larger parts to be printed faster with improved strength. By printing the infill geometry at speeds matching traditional sparse infill, the estimated print time savings would increase in proportion to the material savings.