Concentrated Airflow Fan Duct for Prusa i3 MK3

myminifactory

I've picked up a lot from experimenting with different designs of fan duct. My previous experiment, the 360 degree fan duct, didn't quite live up to expectations. However, this fan duct works fairly well overall. I learned how to set up flow simulations and used that knowledge to help me fine-tune the performance of the fan duct. I combined this flow simulation testing with real-world testing to see if it meets my design goal. The objective with this design was to direct as much air towards the tip of the nozzle as possible. My intention behind this was to boost cooling rates on smaller prints. In my testing, I found that print settings are mostly the limiting factor, and as long as the fan shroud does its job, print quality can't be improved beyond what your slicer settings allow. That being said, this fan performed better than stock in most of my testing. Bridging tests resulted in marginally less dangling and benchies printed flawlessly for both fan shrouds, but were only slightly more stable on the front overhang with my fan shroud. Overall, my fan shroud outperformed the stock fan shroud in my testing, but not by a significant amount. Feel free to test it yourself and share your findings with me.