3D Printing Enclosures

[Krakin]

I would check to find out your resonance of your design you come up with as a horn will not only resonate but also amplify its own resonating, because, it's a horn.

The best thing I could think of to combat this if the density of your material isn't dense enough is to purchase a small amount of sound dampening material and attach to the walls of the enclosure, if it isn't a horn, while avoiding a ported section. As well as putting structural braces along critical locations. To save on weight and material you can most likely get away with a hollow book shelf bracing or if you are feeling fancy a hex grid core. I would also look at doing a hex grid core for the enclosure sides.

If it ends up being not possible to print an enclosure of proper size you could easily print interlocking pieces, probably with poles from each piece going into the adjoining piece while having a gasket/glue mix holding each piece together.

As for some other off the top of my head things to watch out for would be to make sure you get a great seal and coupling for the interface between the driver and the mounting hole. You want to make sure you get an airtight seal while making sure it is think enough to avoid all contact between the plastic of the enclosure and the metal/plastic frame of the driver. You should also get a rubber foundation to attach to whatever side of the enclosure is going is sitting on the ground or holding onto the wall.

[yurvalentine]

A big part of the resonance of the box is how solid your infill is. At 15% or so pieces tend to have a bit of resonance to them but once you get closer to solid material it shouldn't be an issue even with PLA or ABS.

[Mike Gann]

After thinking about it, it's probably better to keep the printing down to making custom mounting adapters, tweeter housing, and designing your own flared ports otherwise it doesn't make a lot of sense unless the design is very complex. Most people build reflex designs which are so simple you'd just be printing flat walls so I think we should just build out of wood and print ports and such. If you do print an enclosure it's best to make the design complicated, which was my original plan for it anyway. Maybe stay away from slot port designs because the only reason we really use those is because of the flat wood panels we use to build them. That might end up with an artsy fartsy looking enclosure.

It's important to print as thick as possible and don't bother with the material saving walls. My friend printed a shot glass one time, and the liquid leaked right through it. We can't have that with air and thicker walls can be skinnier with the same support and amount of material.

[Mike Gann]

Another exotic way to make large enclosures with complex smooth curvy ports is to layer. Can probably even make wooden flare ports in this manner. Again 3D printer seems not to be the best route to take.

[yurvalentine]

The only problem I see is just the size. No way to get a half decent size enclosure with any of the commercial printers I'm aware of. Everything else can be worked around.

[Mike Gann]

Right so you'd have to print walls and glue them together. Even if you had an unlimited size printer I'd still suggest building out of wood. Printers are already perfect size to print things that might actually be worth printing because they're hard to make with wood like aeroports. Or find a tiny speaker that's optimized for ported enclosures although I don't think that's a thing. Can print a micro sized ported box.

[Krakin]

The only printers I have had experience with are with Stratasys and they make very complicated ones that have very small printing parameters, I think 100 micron levels, but they print on a heated surface and you have a solution bath and a smoothing process afterwards as well.

I could see the use of 3d printing, but when dealing with acoustics I'm very afraid of the materials acoustic signature when compared to MDF or Spruce.

Also as you were talking about complicated designs, that takes somebody with enough engineering/physics knowledge and the time to have read enough AES papers to meet a level complicated enough to make the modeling portion of the design even worth it.

[Mike Gann]

Yes, agreed. You can probably do it without all that knowledge too if you tried. When I said complex I meant something not easily built with wood, even most of those research papers are designable with wood. But think of an enclosure too small to build easily with wood, has egg carton lumps designed into the compression chamber behind the driver to rid of resonances, and a long snake like port twisted around for the rest. Again, still can be done with the layering technique in previous video though. Also we're capable of printing with wood. The airwolf I have access to has the same heated bed and bath, that might be all household printers. My original idea was to print bookshelf sized full range horn speakers. After much thought I'm scrapping the idea, stick to wood.

[Krakin]

Yes, I just think current printers at consumer prices aren't up to the task of a full worthwhile design.

I think port additions and a few acoustic enhancements are about all if is really useful for at the moment.