by Carlos González

Free-to-use generative design projects with Grasshopper and Fusion 360

What is generative design?

For a given material and a set of geometries to connect or avoid, a program generates an optimal structure for a set of mechanical loads. For the same initial geometry and loads, different materials produce very different structures.

📄 Theoretical justification — advanced level

Fusion 360 — generative design

Aluminium drone
Drone frame for additive manufacturing

Aluminium drone

Self-supporting faired drone chassis. The arms are optimized for construction in AlSi10 through generative design; the chassis was designed in Fusion 360. It consists of a lower cover and an upper cover screwed together.

📄 PDF in English 📄 PDF in Spanish
Specifications
PropertyValueUnit
Mass260.3g
Cost195.67€
Additive manufacturing yield0.56
Raw material cost134€/kg
Manufacturing time260.31h
Manufacturing methodDMLS
MaterialAlSi10
Density2.59g/cm³
Part volume98.08cm³
Gallery
Aluminium drone 1Aluminium drone 2Aluminium drone 3
ABS drone
Drone frame for additive manufacturing

ABS drone

Self-supporting faired drone chassis. The arms are optimized for construction in ABS through generative design; the chassis was designed in Fusion 360. It consists of a lower cover and an upper cover screwed together.

📄 PDF in English 📄 PDF in Spanish
Specifications
PropertyValueUnit
Mass109.1g
Cost3.71€
Additive manufacturing yield0.58
Raw material cost20€/kg
Manufacturing time109.11h
Manufacturing methodDMLS
MaterialABS
Density1.05g/cm³
Part volume102.9cm³
Gallery
ABS drone 1ABS drone 2ABS drone 3ABS drone 4ABS drone 5

Grasshopper — parametric design

Fuller dome using Anemone for loop control
Fuller iterations with Grasshopper

Fuller dome using Anemone for loop control

Generation of a Richard Buckminster Fuller dome. Frequency n ≤ 5. Anemone is a Grasshopper plugin for iterating blocks.

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Gallery
Fuller dome using Anemone for loop control 1Fuller dome using Anemone for loop control 2Fuller dome using Anemone for loop control 3Fuller dome using Anemone for loop control 4Fuller dome using Anemone for loop control 5
Parametric hydrofoil from a NACA profile
Parametric hydrofoil

Parametric hydrofoil from a NACA profile

The profile is generated in XFLR5 and exported to .dat; Grasshopper reads it from the path. Progressive angles of attack (initial, final, mid) and dihedral can be controlled.

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Gallery
Parametric hydrofoil from a NACA profile 1Parametric hydrofoil from a NACA profile 2Parametric hydrofoil from a NACA profile 3Parametric hydrofoil from a NACA profile 4Parametric hydrofoil from a NACA profile 5Parametric hydrofoil from a NACA profile 6
Self-supporting roof with the Kangaroo solver
Form finding with Grasshopper

Self-supporting roof with the Kangaroo solver

A mesh is created with a physical solver of springs and gravity. The system's K and g can be tuned until the desired mesh is found; the design is parameterized with Grasshopper and Weaverbird.

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Gallery
Self-supporting roof with the Kangaroo solver 1Self-supporting roof with the Kangaroo solver 3Self-supporting roof with the Kangaroo solver 4Self-supporting roof with the Kangaroo solver 5