Demonstrating a new approach for personal and digital fabrication of moulded pulp products

Abstract

In this paper, we demonstrate an approach for designing 3D printed porous moulds, which can be used by individual to create moulded pulp objects of desired form. This approach requires user to provide simple partitioning of the 3D digital model for the moulded pulp object, and then apply program scripts on a 3D modeling software to generate elements of a porous mould which can be 3D printed with low-cost desktop 3D printers. Indeed, the entire process (from mould design till production of moulded pulp object) can be done at home or in makerspaces with 3D printers. The significance of this paper is on demonstrating feasibility of small-scale production of moulded pulp objects, without relying on expensive industrial manufacturing facilities as in conventional approach. This opens up the possibility for individual designers to experiment with moulded pulp products, thereby allowing them to get feedback for enhancing their products and possibly scale up their production volume.