Print on Air: FDM 3D Printing Without Supports

The ability to work without supports is the most important factor of merit in additive manufacturing or 3D printing process. We here present a custom procedure and algorithm for 3D printing without using any support structure: this in order to avoid supports during the deposition phase the printer extruder must follows a detailed path that at the same time is part of the implemented 3D object and is also able to sustain the next deposited material. The proposed approach can be applied to any object, also long bridges and convex surfaces. Test objects implemented with the proposed method are reported and evaluated in order to show the method functionality and applicability in any condition.