Decorative Disks - Bucky Balls

thingiverse

Three-dimensional molecules like fullerenes, or "Bucky Balls," can be converted into 2D patterns by projecting them onto a plane; atoms become circles and bonds, rectangles. Symmetrical molecules create fascinating patterns as overlapping atoms form shading effects. I applied this technique to 15 fullerene variants with 20-80 carbon atoms, projecting the top 10 patterns onto disks. These designs were used to decorate disks described in thing:26973. For two-color printers, three sets of STL files are provided: disk_less_c24_down_z.stl & c24_down_z.stl (C24), disk_less_c36_down_z.stl & c36_down_z.stl (C36), and disk_less_c60_down_y.stl & c60_down_y.stl (C60). All patterns are contained in the disk_bucky_stl.zip file, created using bucky_disks.scad program. These projections depend on the orientation of coordinates within fullerene data banks. Only three out of infinite possible projections per molecule were calculated, with most interesting patterns emerging from down-the-z-axis projections. The upper-left image displays two patterns twice, switching colors. Corner patterns depict a 24-atom fullerene in concentric rings, adjacent ones represent the basic 60-atom Buckyball (only 32 atoms visible), and opposite corner patterns show a 36-atom fullerene with six pentagons surrounding a hexagon. To print these disks on a Replicator, use zero shells and 50% infill, allowing them to cool before removing from the build platform. The decorative module input matches thing 12675, with simplified bucky_disks.scad calculating 2D projections instead of 3D molecules. Instructions for using the program are included in thing 26973.