3D printing of special shape model: New insight into material properties and correlation of model printing properties

Improving the ability to print complex shapes has been a key focus in the development of 3D food printing. This study evaluated the material properties and printing characteristics of various materials, using the printing data from test models to create a dataset for categorizing, predicting, and validating the special shape printing capabilities of these materials. The primary factors influencing printing performance were the material's mechanical strength, resistance to deformation, and the ‘extrusion expansion’ effect. The print accuracy and support properties of test models of print material can significantly affect its ability to print special shapes. Based on special shape modeling experiments, the printing materials were classified into three categories: gels that could not print either flat or three-dimensional models, gels that could only print flat models, and gels that could print both flat and three-dimensional models. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Fisher Discriminant Analysis (with classification accuracies of 98.33% for the training set and 96.67% for the prediction set) confirmed the validity of these classification results. This study established a correlation between the printing characteristics of test models and those of special shape models, aiding in the evaluation of the printability of complex shapes.