Water-Soluble PVA Spheres for DSO National Laboratories
Hollow spheres 3D printed in water-soluble PVA for research at DSO National Laboratories, modelled from their reference file.
- Client
- DSO National Laboratories
- What it is made of
- Water-soluble PVA, printed by FDM in our studio
- How it is built
- A hollow shell, printed as two halves and joined
- Hollow PVA spheres printed for DSO
- 25
- Orders in under six months
- 3
- Surface designs: smooth and football pattern
- 2
What we brought
What we can do
We model it from your reference
DSO sent a reference file. We modelled the hollow sphere and made sure it would print cleanly in PVA.
How we look after you
Whole parts in a support material
PVA is usually printed as dissolvable support. We printed complete hollow spheres from it, smooth and patterned.
What you get
Ready when you reorder
DSO came back twice: for a football-pattern version, then for ten translucent spheres with PVA glue.
Gallery
The whole project at a glance. Drag or swipe to browse; tap a picture to enlarge it.
1 / 3
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The finished piece
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A finished smooth sphere, in the hand.
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ProductionOne half of the football-pattern sphere.
The build
How we built it
5 steps, from the brief to the finished piece. Pick a step to jump to it.
The brief
Step 1 of 5
- Material
- Water-soluble PVA
- Shape
- A hollow sphere
- Starting point
- DSO's reference file, sent on 16/01/2025
At Additive Inn, our 3D printing studio in Singapore, we 3D printed hollow spheres in water-soluble PVA for DSO National Laboratories, Singapore's national defence research laboratory. Their team sent a reference file and needed the spheres modelled and printed in PVA.
Design & prototyping
Step 2 of 5
We modelled the hollow sphere from DSO's reference and prepared it for printing in PVA. The first five spheres went to DSO's research team.
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First design · 20/01/2025
A smooth hollow sphere, modelled from DSO's reference. Five printed in PVA.
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Second design · 21/04/2025
A football-style hexagon pattern on the surface. Five printed, with five more smooth spheres.
Production
Step 3 of 5
Each sphere is printed in water-soluble PVA on our FDM printers as two half shells. The football pattern is printed into the surface itself, so it needs no painting.
Build & assembly
Step 4 of 5
We joined the two halves of each sphere into one closed, hollow ball. With the third order we also supplied PVA glue alongside the ten translucent spheres.
The final build
Step 5 of 5
DSO's team received smooth and football-pattern spheres in white-yellow PVA, then a third order of ten translucent spheres, each a light, hollow shell that dissolves in water.
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