I don't recommend try this at home, or anywhere for that matter. In this video I go over my surprising results from burst testing 3D printed pressure vessels.
I can't emphasize enough the difference between pressurized water and air/gas in relation to the likelihood of losing eyes, fingers and generally eating shrapnel. Consider it like this... pull on a 50' chain with all your might and let it go... not a dramatic show. Now pull on a 50' spring with the same force and let go... and observe the drama.
have you seen the cnc kitchen video about printing clear prints with petg? those settings also made the print a lot stronger, would be cool to see if that would increase the pressure it could hold
Would love to see more on this concept to see how far you can take it. I think tpu might do better or it would blow up like a balloon. Also don't forget to film the tests. We all like energetic failures. Great video. Keep up the good work.
You talking about use of water instead of air reminds me: NEVER use White pvc for air lines. Seeing the printed parts standing up to this is interesting.
Interesting and well made video! Not sure I can currently use these findings, but certainly good to know. Especially that compressing water (or trying to) is safer than compressing air. 👍🏼
Regarding leakage: What about inserting a condom before filling with water (and making sure the threads are sanded and lubricated)? Initially the air would fizzle out through the pores, and then the wall would serve as armor. I've probably forgot something essential... or not.
I've been thinking of doing something similar, but for vacuum instead of pressure. Also, you can get better seals from PVB as long as you don't soften the infill.
Good job on filling your vessels with water - I used to make stainless steel boilers and pipelines, and that's how we used to test them to 45bar. You really don't want a large pressure vessel letting go with that kind of pressure behind it. BTW, how's the joule thief getting on? Mine has just passed the 3 year mark
The manner in which the part was printed, will also decide how strong the parts are. It is not about number of walls alone, it is also about how high a temperature was used, amount of overlap between walls(overextrusion could be beneficial-which was covered👍) and even the nozzle size, should have to be atleast 0.8mm or more (not sure if all sl8cers allow for higher layer height). Also a staggered thinwalled honeycomb grid structure holding on to inner walls will do much better. Apart from that, there are plastics, that could be annealed further for increased strength. Just some suggestions...
If I'm correct in my calculation (and the leakage problem could be solved), you could potentially 3D-print a small submarine with a diving capability in the range of 300m below the surface?
Another way to make them air/waterthight is by anneling or remelting. Theres many ways to do it, the most effective one is salt anneling. By burying your part in salt you basically make a mold of the part, inwhich it gets re melted. With the melting tempreture of the part shieved, it starts catalyzing creating a solid part. Not only should it be air/water thight, it may be even stronger;)
Those are great results. Have you heard about Filament Winding? In short, the process of winding for example carbon, or glassfibres, drenched in resin, around a vessel, to increase its capability to resist preasure and keep it comparitively light?
Thank you for this info! I was looking for similar information but not for a tank. I posted a question on Reddit but never got a response. I have a 300psi pump for water/methanol and I need a manifold for 2 hydraulic circuits with 12 outputs, all based around the Cummins 6CTA8.3 intake bolt pattern. Now that I know that PLA/PETG can handle those pressures I feel better about testing further. Actually I would’ve been working on it already but my printer has been broken for 3 weeks, I’m still waiting on a replacement ribbon cable for the controller.
I think 3D printing a custom shape is a great idea. What if that shape after printing was wrapped in a carbon fiber / glass coat after… I bet it would hold.
3d prints are going to be inherently leaky off the bed. Some kind of sealing layer may help, maybe some thin epoxy run around the inside and left to cure. Otherwise, you could salt bake them to get them air tight.
Hey It's quite interesting work, I might use this to make a bb shooter 🤣. I have a small design suggestion, you can try adding ribs inside the tank to hold the pressure better and Maybe put epoxy resin to make it water tight ( would love to see the results in the next video), on more thing me be you make a bounding box around tank and pour resin in between the cavity to make it even more air tight and withstand the pressure better.
not expert in fluid dynamics, but know a few things. as other comments stated; design need to be tested based on three points of operational consideration. first point is the max rapid fail (that is done with reserve pressure, fill design up so fast, allowing the vibration of the pressure to reveal shatter or weak points. thus revealing engineering exploits). second point is standard fill to max (usually start the test method in order to find design's capability based on standard pressure making equipment). third is "safety / operational" point. most design 1/3 or 1/4 of the maximum capability. I am told, thus not expert in such dynamics. If device "stays together" after breaking or shattering is "best" safe design. Shatters into small pieces but not staying together is considered dangerous design. then the reduced specification aka safe/operational specification is based on handling "surprises" such as extreme weather example fast freezes, heat waves. same with fire and "external" crash crush (ex roof falling down on it). Those do change the device capability. the disappointment here, you did not specify water temperature in your test. cold water, luke warm and boiling water all behaves differently in a designed vessel. I understand, you dont want to "experiment" like a engineer would, I respect that. Thank you for providing some discovery detail regarding the pressure vessel you experimented on. Would you release your "model" for someone else to test if other want to dare?
Yes it would have been cool to see the video of the failures but still a very surprising result considering most commercial pressure vessels are rated at about 10-12 bar or 140-170 psi so that's way below the pressure you got to 👍
You can use anneling, salt anneling will give the best results. By burying your part in fine salt powder you basically make a mold of the part, in which it gets remelted. With the melting tempreture of the part shieved, it starts catalyzing creating a solid part. Not only should it be air/water thight, it may be even stronger;)
~~I get 3D printed water-tight parts by over extruding the PETG~~. Although on this new printer I have, I havent had to use that trick as long as nothing weird happens in the print, the walls are solid. E: Beat me to it, at the end of the video.
I was thinking about something similar: resin, but you also pump a bit of air pressure to force it to get into the pores. but the results depends on the geometry of the pore: if it acts a as perpedicular plug (unlikely), you just made a bullet.
you really put those boring graphics into the focus of this video instead of bursting pressure tanks? are you kidding me, don't you know the Hydraulic Press Channel? Those with almost 9 million subscribers. You could have easily getting trending with a video showing bursting 3d-prints.
I can't emphasize enough the difference between pressurized water and air/gas in relation to the likelihood of losing eyes, fingers and generally eating shrapnel. Consider it like this... pull on a 50' chain with all your might and let it go... not a dramatic show. Now pull on a 50' spring with the same force and let go... and observe the drama.
have you seen the cnc kitchen video about printing clear prints with petg? those settings also made the print a lot stronger, would be cool to see if that would increase the pressure it could hold
Did I miss it, or did you not include video of the actual testing/failures?
Thanks for sharing your experiment!
I wonder what TPU would do?
Would love to see more on this concept to see how far you can take it. I think tpu might do better or it would blow up like a balloon. Also don't forget to film the tests. We all like energetic failures.
Great video. Keep up the good work.
Good job! Surprising strength of the tank.
You talking about use of water instead of air reminds me: NEVER use White pvc for air lines.
Seeing the printed parts standing up to this is interesting.
This is amazing. What pressures can you get with a fiberglass and resin wrap???
Interesting and well made video! Not sure I can currently use these findings, but certainly good to know. Especially that compressing water (or trying to) is safer than compressing air. 👍🏼
you can also coat insides/outsides of 3d printed tanks to strengthen and leakproof them
IMPORTANT!! ‼️‼️!!!
SET WALLS INSIDE->OUTSIDE
most presets are outside to inside
Inside to outside helps minimizing possible gaps
Idk cause ima newb, but would electroplating help tank integrity?
Regarding leakage: What about inserting a condom before filling with water (and making sure the threads are sanded and lubricated)? Initially the air would fizzle out through the pores, and then the wall would serve as armor. I've probably forgot something essential... or not.
Came here to suggest this :)
I've been thinking of doing something similar, but for vacuum instead of pressure. Also, you can get better seals from PVB as long as you don't soften the infill.
Good job on filling your vessels with water - I used to make stainless steel boilers and pipelines, and that's how we used to test them to 45bar. You really don't want a large pressure vessel letting go with that kind of pressure behind it. BTW, how's the joule thief getting on? Mine has just passed the 3 year mark
Composite overwrap. Could go lower wall thickness and way more strength.
How did you set your seams in the slice settings?
I also wondered this. I would figure that random alignment with staggered seams would be best.
The manner in which the part was printed, will also decide how strong the parts are. It is not about number of walls alone, it is also about how high a temperature was used, amount of overlap between walls(overextrusion could be beneficial-which was covered👍) and even the nozzle size, should have to be atleast 0.8mm or more
(not sure if all sl8cers allow for higher layer height). Also a staggered thinwalled honeycomb grid structure holding on to inner walls will do much better. Apart from that, there are plastics, that could be annealed further for increased strength. Just some suggestions...
If I'm correct in my calculation (and the leakage problem could be solved), you could potentially 3D-print a small submarine with a diving capability in the range of 300m below the surface?
so, do you feel brave enough to crisscross wrap them in glass or carbon fiber rowing and epoxy (like composite pressure vessels) and test? :D
Another way to make them air/waterthight is by anneling or remelting.
Theres many ways to do it, the most effective one is salt anneling.
By burying your part in salt you basically make a mold of the part, inwhich it gets re melted.
With the melting tempreture of the part shieved, it starts catalyzing creating a solid part.
Not only should it be air/water thight, it may be even stronger;)
id be interested to see if you thickened the walls slightly, made them into spheres and annealed the parts.
Those are great results.
Have you heard about Filament Winding?
In short, the process of winding for example carbon, or glassfibres, drenched in resin, around a vessel, to increase its capability to resist preasure and keep it comparitively light?
You should try an acetone vapor treatment to seal up the leaks in vessel.
Thank you for this info! I was looking for similar information but not for a tank. I posted a question on Reddit but never got a response. I have a 300psi pump for water/methanol and I need a manifold for 2 hydraulic circuits with 12 outputs, all based around the Cummins 6CTA8.3 intake bolt pattern. Now that I know that PLA/PETG can handle those pressures I feel better about testing further. Actually I would’ve been working on it already but my printer has been broken for 3 weeks, I’m still waiting on a replacement ribbon cable for the controller.
I wonder if filling/encasing it in salt and "re-melting" would help with leak strength.
Also carbon fiber nylon may work even better.
I think 3D printing a custom shape is a great idea. What if that shape after printing was wrapped in a carbon fiber / glass coat after… I bet it would hold.
Put balloon inside mabe?
Next time try to randomize the seams instead of using aligned. That way you can eliminate a failure point and increase it's overall strength.
Very interesting stuff, but you have to give us some burst footage.
They look to have failed at the z seam. If you can solve the leaking problem try it again with better z seam settings.
3d prints are going to be inherently leaky off the bed. Some kind of sealing layer may help, maybe some thin epoxy run around the inside and left to cure. Otherwise, you could salt bake them to get them air tight.
what if this was done in vase mode with no seams
Hey It's quite interesting work, I might use this to make a bb shooter 🤣. I have a small design suggestion, you can try adding ribs inside the tank to hold the pressure better and Maybe put epoxy resin to make it water tight ( would love to see the results in the next video), on more thing me be you make a bounding box around tank and pour resin in between the cavity to make it even more air tight and withstand the pressure better.
Let me know if I can help with design of this new tank.
More than happy to help
how was your initial thought not....3d printed super soaker?
you are so awkward that I had to upvote your video. Love it ❤❤ Please make more!
I didn't think he was awkward at all
Nerds secretly run the world. At least that's what I tell myself.
BROOOOO don't do my mans dirty like that
not expert in fluid dynamics, but know a few things. as other comments stated; design need to be tested based on three points of operational consideration.
first point is the max rapid fail (that is done with reserve pressure, fill design up so fast, allowing the vibration of the pressure to reveal shatter or weak points. thus revealing engineering exploits).
second point is standard fill to max (usually start the test method in order to find design's capability based on standard pressure making equipment).
third is "safety / operational" point. most design 1/3 or 1/4 of the maximum capability.
I am told, thus not expert in such dynamics. If device "stays together" after breaking or shattering is "best" safe design. Shatters into small pieces but not staying together is considered dangerous design.
then the reduced specification aka safe/operational specification is based on handling "surprises" such as extreme weather example fast freezes, heat waves. same with fire and "external" crash crush (ex roof falling down on it). Those do change the device capability.
the disappointment here, you did not specify water temperature in your test. cold water, luke warm and boiling water all behaves differently in a designed vessel. I understand, you dont want to "experiment" like a engineer would, I respect that. Thank you for providing some discovery detail regarding the pressure vessel you experimented on. Would you release your "model" for someone else to test if other want to dare?
DIY Super Soaker? :)
Yes it would have been cool to see the video of the failures but still a very surprising result considering most commercial pressure vessels are rated at about 10-12 bar or 140-170 psi so that's way below the pressure you got to 👍
This is great information. I've been considering a 3D printed pneumatic nerf gun but I was questioning the pressure holding capabilities of FDM.
Carbon fiber's gotten really cheap these days. It's even competitive with fiberglass.
Just wrap your pressure vessel.
@@jtjames79 Or just use a crabon fiber tube as the air tank, they do that with air guns.
You can use anneling, salt anneling will give the best results.
By burying your part in fine salt powder you basically make a mold of the part, in which it gets remelted.
With the melting tempreture of the part shieved, it starts catalyzing creating a solid part.
Not only should it be air/water thight, it may be even stronger;)
~~I get 3D printed water-tight parts by over extruding the PETG~~. Although on this new printer I have, I havent had to use that trick as long as nothing weird happens in the print, the walls are solid.
E: Beat me to it, at the end of the video.
Maybe pour some paint inside to seal the pin holes maybe ?
I was thinking about something similar: resin, but you also pump a bit of air pressure to force it to get into the pores. but the results depends on the geometry of the pore: if it acts a as perpedicular plug (unlikely), you just made a bullet.
Lack of metric units just made me watch video just half way
Flex seal the inside lol
Would love to see carbon fiber. Bet it cracks 1000 no prob.
you really put those boring graphics into the focus of this video instead of bursting pressure tanks? are you kidding me, don't you know the Hydraulic Press Channel? Those with almost 9 million subscribers. You could have easily getting trending with a video showing bursting 3d-prints.
You should look a annealing your prints to see if that makes a difference (I would think it would if you're seeing failures along layer lines.)
Wow that's surprising! I really was also thinking less than 200psi, way less.