What I Built
Designed and 3D printed an airless basketball prototype using TPU, exploring how flexible materials and lattice geometry can replace air pressure.
📁 3D Printed Airless Basketball
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C:\\Users\\Patrick\\Engineering\\Portfolio\\airless-basketball
3D Printed Airless Basketball
Designed and 3D printed an airless basketball prototype using TPU, exploring how flexible materials and lattice geometry can replace air pressure.
20263D Printing / MaterialsSole Creator
3D printingTPULattice designMaterials testing
My Role
Sole Creator
Tools / Tech
- TPU filament
- 3D printer
- Lattice geometry
- Slicer settings
- Materials testing
Build Process
- Designed a flexible structure that could compress and rebound without air pressure.
- Printed the prototype using TPU and adjusted settings for flexible material behavior.
- Tested the result to see how geometry and material choice affected bounce.
What I Learned
- Learned how material choice, wall thickness, infill, and geometry affect bounce and flexibility.
- Experimented with TPU challenges such as flexibility, print speed, and structural consistency.
- Used prototypes to test a physical property instead of just making an object that looks finished.
Result / Impact
This project made materials engineering feel real because the design only worked if the geometry and material behavior worked together.