Bouncy Ball

grabcad

On 18th August, a version with legs was included for added dampening feature. The prototype was almost ready on 16th August, and connectors along with an anchor to orient the ball during freefall were planned. The test ring could be twisted and ovaled without breaking; however, delamination occurred within PLA layers due to only 50% infill. When thrown against the floor, it bounced. Unfortunately, a large enough model for suspending an egg in the frame might not be printable due to its possible bouncing upon dropping. The initial design had an anchor that was insufficient to keep the structure vertical during freefall, requiring larger rings for more deceleration on impact. A photo and video from Drop #1 were added on 20th August, also failing. On 21st August, a photo and video from Drop #2 were included despite failed results due to inadequate stiffness of the legs causing the cage to bottom out. The designer envisions using rings with integrated legs, printed on a larger 3D printer for more rigidity than the previously tested version. This concept alternates layers of rigid and flexible filament, creating a laminated structure that has better toughness than PLA and better strength than flexible filament (Polymaker PolyFlex). Access to multi-material or 2-nozzle FDM printers was unavailable, necessitating filament exchange during build.