Anahtar kelimeler: Gyroid, 3D baskı, SLA, Matematiksel model.
Abstract: The study of minimal surfaces has a history of over 200 years. It
originated in 1760 with Lagrange’s inquiry into the appearance of a surface with
the smallest possible area bounded by a given curve. However, a suitable tool to
study the associated partial differential equation of the surface was not available at
that time. In 1865, H. A. Schwarz published the first example of an infinite periodic
minimal surface (IPMS). One notable IPMS is the Schwarz P surface, described
by Hermann Schwarz in 1890. In 1970, physicist and computer scientist Alan
Schoen discovered the Gyroid surface while investigating strong and lightweight
structures. The Gyroid is unique among IPMS as it lacks intersections, straight lines,
and mirror reflections. Additionally, its rotational symmetry axes do not lie within
the surface. The Gyroid belongs to the cubic crystal system and possesses a body
centred cubic Bravais lattice. The mathematical equation of the Gyroid is complex,
involving elliptic integrals. However, cos x · sin y + cos y · sin z + cos z · sin x = 0
equation gives an approximation to the Gyroid surface looks like the actual Gyroid.
In this study, the above equation is considered to create a mathematical model of the
gyroid by using a mathematical software called K3DSurf. Once mathematical model
created then it is exported to “.stl” data format in order to print it by a 3D printer. The
mathematical model sliced into layers with ChiTuBox slicing software and printed
with a Liquid Crystal Display Stereolithography 3D printer which uses 405 nm UV
light source to cure the photocurable liquid resin. The aim of the study was to create
a real tangible object from a mathematical equation that would not be possible to
manufacture with classical engineering methods. These objects would also serve
as educational tools and can be used for presentation purposes. Today’s low cost
desktop 3-D printers give great opportunity to the users for creating such complex
mathematical models. Layer thickness can go down as low as 10 µm with 3D SLA
printers and this gives extremely good surface quality and smoothness.
Keywords: Gyroid, 3D printing, SLA, Mathematical model.