Design and Manufacturing of 3D Printed Foods With User Validation

Additive manufacturing is becoming widely practical for diverse engineering applications, with emerging approaches showing great promise in the food industry. From the realization of complex food designs to the automated preparation of personalized meals, 3D printing promises many innovations in the food manufacturing sector. However, its use is limited due to the need to better understand manufacturing capabilities for different food materials and user preferences for 3D food prints. Our study aims to explore the 3D food printability of design features, such as overhangs and holes, and assess how well they print through quantitative and qualitative measurements. Designs with varied angles and diameters based on the standard design limitations for additive manufacturing were printed and measured using marzipan and chocolate. It was found that marzipan material has a minimum feature size for overhang design at 55° and for hole design at 4mm, while chocolate material has a minimum overhang angle size of 35° and does not reliably print holes. Users were presented a series of designs to determine user preference (N = 30) towards the importance of fidelity and accuracy between the expected design and the 3D printed sample, and how much they liked each sample. Results suggest that users prefer designs with high fidelity to their original shape and perceive the current accuracy/precision of 3D printers sufficient for accurately printing three-dimensional geometries. These results demonstrate the current manufacturing capabilities for 3D food printing and success in achieving high fidelity designs for user satisfaction. Both of these considerations are essential steps in providing automated and personalized manufacturing for specific user needs and preferences.