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I want to plot a fusilli pasta-like surface. I have seen such a Mathematica-made surface before:

enter image description here

So far, I am able to create normal helical surfaces in the following way:

l = 2;
ParametricPlot3D[{0.1*u Sin[l*t], 0.1*u Cos[l*t], t/(2*Pi)}, {t, 0, 2*Pi}, {u, -1, 1}]

which produces

enter image description here

My question is: How can I build a fusilli helix out of that?

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    $\begingroup$ How do you want the output to be different? What about this ouput: l = 2; ParametricPlot3D[{0.1*u Sin[l*t], 0.1*u Cos[l*t], t/(2*\[Pi])}, {t, 0, 2*\[Pi]}, {u, -1, 1}, Extrusion -> .02, Mesh -> None, Boxed -> False, Axes -> False] $\endgroup$ – Jason B. Mar 15 '17 at 17:27
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    $\begingroup$ Have you tried combining three helices with a phase shift using Show? I think that's the output you wanted, right? $\endgroup$ – b3m2a1 Mar 15 '17 at 17:27
  • $\begingroup$ @MB1965 - I missed that there were multiple helices in the pasta (also I think fusili often has those little grooves which hold onto the sauce so well). $\endgroup$ – Jason B. Mar 15 '17 at 17:32
  • $\begingroup$ @JasonB. I had to look twice myself. Do you know of any simple edit to the parametrization to get grooves in? Must be possible but I can't think of it. $\endgroup$ – b3m2a1 Mar 15 '17 at 17:33
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    $\begingroup$ You might be interested in Pasta by Design. $\endgroup$ – J. M.'s ennui♦ Mar 19 '17 at 15:58
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Your code is already almost what you need. You just have to combine three surfaces like yours into the same plot - with two slight modifications: The radius u should only go from 0 to 1 and the phase of the two other surfaces has to be shifted by 2/3*Pi and 4/3*Pi, respectively:

l = 2;
ParametricPlot3D[{{0.1*u Sin[l*t], 0.1*u Cos[l*t],t/(2*\[Pi])},
                  {0.1*u Sin[l*t + 2/3*Pi], 0.1*u Cos[l*t + 2/3*Pi], t/(2*\[Pi])},
                  {0.1*u Sin[l*t + 4/3*Pi], 0.1*u Cos[l*t + 4/3*Pi], t/(2*\[Pi])}
                 }, {t, 0, 2*\[Pi]}, {u, 0, 1}]

This yields:

Plot of a fussili

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    $\begingroup$ This is essentially the same so I won't post separate answer, feel free to include it. ParametricPlot3D[Evaluate@Table[ RotationTransform[l + off, {0, 0, 1}]@{r, r, l}, {off, {0, 2 Pi/3, 4 Pi/3}}] , {r, 0, 1} , {l, 0, 10} ] $\endgroup$ – Kuba♦ Mar 15 '17 at 17:34
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    $\begingroup$ +1 - if you want it to be more pasta-like, you can use the undocumented Extrusion option, and give each surface the same PlotStyle, you can get something like this with your code. $\endgroup$ – Jason B. Mar 15 '17 at 17:36
  • $\begingroup$ @JasonB. I had no idea Extrusion existed. Where'd you find it? $\endgroup$ – b3m2a1 Mar 15 '17 at 17:51
  • $\begingroup$ @MB1965 I found it on this site, some question about adding thickness to a ContourPlot3D $\endgroup$ – Jason B. Mar 15 '17 at 18:07
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    $\begingroup$ @MB1965 Also PlotTheme -> "ThickSurface" which is documented. $\endgroup$ – Edmund Mar 15 '17 at 19:25

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