Fusion 360 - 3D CAD Modeling of an Air Fryer with Crinkle-Cut Fries

Background

Air fryers are arguably the most innovative kitchen appliances on the market today. It is basically a miniature version of an oven that cooks food by circulating hot air from all angles. The biggest perk of this gadget it that requires little to no oil for cooking foods, making it a healthier option than oil frying.

In this exciting personal project, I attempted to design an air fryer with its components to cook frozen crinkle-cut fries in Autodesk Fusion 360. (Yes, you heard that right. I designed 3D models of crinkle-cut fries too).

But Why This Project? What is so Special?

As Mechanical Design Engineers, we all look at products around us and appreciate their form, fit, and function. Design is at every nook and corner in this world. I always look at the technological innovation around me and wonder about its design process.

As a former student, I had frequently been using my air fryer for the past one year, as it is a quick and convenient option to eat healthier foods and snacks. One of those days when I cooked crinkle-cut fries in the air fryer to have as a side for dinner, I just paused for a moment admiring the aesthetic of the corrugated fries and the precision of the air fryer design.

While I always try to design everyday products around me in CAD software like everyone else, I learned that there are not many resources online for an air fryer 3D modeling. This gadget is in great demand recently. Furthermore, I could hardly find any applications for 3D CAD modeling of food items.

While the design and manufacturing of mechanical components for functioning are essential in the engineering industry, it is understandable that food items are not crucial in mechanical design. Nevertheless, the curiosity of designing something that we use in our everyday lives and the food that we eat to keep ourselves nourished prompted me to take up this project.

I hoped to contribute to the limited resources available for 3D modeling food items and air fryer with this challenging task. I designed an air fryer unit, its basket for putting in food, crinkle-cut shaped fries, and a dinner plate to savor the delicious snack meal. Let us dive right into the design process for cooking our food.

3D Modeling - Fusion 360

Air Fryer Unit

Dimensions (inches)

For the air fryer’s central unit, I used the revolve tool in Fusion 360 to design three compartments from top to bottom. The first component has a 360 degrees revolution, while I gave a 180 degrees rotate to the second compartment for inserting the air fryer basket. A small bottom chamber follows the upper two parts.

To design the display of the air fryer, I created a text to represent the cooking temperature. Finally, I extruded a circular opening and six rectangles to design the power button and cooking control options for the frying unit.

Basket (for Delicious Food)

Conventionally, one pulls the handle of the air fryer basket to put food on the circular tray and then inserts the basket to enclose the air fryer unit and initiate cooking food.

As shown in the drawing, I designed the basket with the exact cavity dimensions (with -180 revolve) from the air frying unit. The hole patterns are fundamental as they circulate hot air to mimic the air fryer principle.

An air fryer’s tray is where one places the food. Generally, the tray contains several holes for allowing heat to pass through.

Crinkle-Cut Fries

Even though food items are not mechanical components, this was the most challenging and exciting task. Regular fries are very easy to design as they are rectangular with tips at the end. But the corrugated shape of crinkle-cut fries is a design worth admiring.

For these eccentric fries, I extruded a large square box for a certain width. I designed rings around it in a rectangular pattern. Next, I used an extruded cut to design the corrugated cavity around each round of rings to completely design the crinkle-cut fries, as shown in the drawing.

Assembly

As demonstrated in the drawings below, the assembly depicts the fries placed on the basket's tray. The frozen fries are then inserted into the air fryer unit for cooking (at a temperature of 400 F for 15 minutes. I am starving now, so a preheat is not required).

Dinner is Ready !

Conclusion - Helpful Resources (Renderings and 3D Models)

Thank you very much for taking the time to read about my activity. Below are additional resources for this design, including renderings and 3D model images. Please feel free to contact me for feedback or if you have any questions. I would love to hear from you.

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