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3-D Printing and Design Your Own Object ENGR 1182 Class # 15

3-D Printing in the Real-World §  “The Night I Invented 3-D Printing” video

§  http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/13/tech/innovation/the-night-i-invented-3d-printing-chuck-hall/

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Today's Topics

§  Introduce 3-D Printing

§  Tips to designing parts for the EEIC MakerBots

§ After today's presentation, students will be prepared to design their own object for 3-D printing (actual printing is optional)

§ Only one object per group can be 3-D printed

3-D Printing Overview

§ A standard printer prints flat in two dimensions: x-axis and y-axis

§ A 3-D printer brings into account the vertical dimension (Z dimension)

§  It creates 3 dimensional objects one layer at a time by combining thin layers

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Benefits of 3-D Printing

§ Better than machining since there is a minimal amount of wasted material

§  Traditional machining removes material from a block to create the desired part and is called subtractive manufacturing.

§ 3D printing uses stored material to create the desired part and is called additive manufacturing.

How a 3-D Printer Works

§ A process in which molten plastic is layered into three dimensional shapes.

§ A 3-D printer creates layer by layer to form desired object

§ 3-D printers use CAD files to print objects

§ 3-D printing started with simple parts but is expanding to every corner of industry

Stretchlet Print at 32X

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Innovative and Emerging 3-D Printing Applications

§ Hershey’s invests in printing chocolates

§  Taste testing 3-D food!

§ Project Runway contestant creates fashion with sound waves

§ 3-D print a house: § Huffington Post article with animation §  TED talk presentation

§ Princeton 3-D prints a bionic ear

3-D Printing in EEIC

§  12 MakerBot Printers

§  Print area: 11” wide x 6” deep x 6” tall

§  The printers melt PLA (polylactic acid) plastic and dispense the melted plastic in thin filaments

§  There are limitation factors with these types of printers

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Design Concerns

§  Object must fit within limits of printer.

§  Needs to have large enough joining areas (joints) in order for object to be structurally sound

§  Overhangs, curves, and hollow features must have enough support to be properly built

§  Objects with an angle between 0o-45o of vertical can be printed without supports

§  Check your units!

MakerBot Limitations

§  Build time varies with size of object Ø  Pre-process of setting up the print on both the

computer side as well as the 3D printer Ø  Process of laying down fine layers of plastic on

top of each other is time consuming

§  Not very good with small details Ø  Size limitations Ø  Structural integrity of small items

§  Printing plate is not perfectly flat, which can affect printing success of large, flat objects

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Tools for Printing

§  Software will automatically add rafts and/or support material to ensure piece will remain stable during construction.

Raft Support Material

Tools for Printing

§  Support Material §  Support geometry printed along with part in order to

provide structural support to ensure successful builds §  Can be removed once print is finished

§  Raft: §  A surface automatically created by the software to

improve printing success §  This is helpful for smaller objects, although objects with

larger surface areas could still warp

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Is this a good Object to Print?

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§  Yes, it is simple with over hang that can be printed with support

§  Spheres have a vertical angle that is less that 45o so it can be printed without much support.

§  NOTE: Do not expect a perfect sphere; expect a slight ellipse.

Is this a Good Object to Print?

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Is this a Good Object to Print?

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§  At first glance: Yes, it printed fine.

§  But upon a closer look: ‘NO’. Connection areas are too small and make the structure weak

Is this a Good Object to Print?

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Is this a Good Object to Print?

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§  At first you might think to use support material for the ledges, but in reality it is very difficult to get all the support material out.

Is this a Good Object to Print?

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§ Printing without support material turns out pretty good! However, notice because of the over hang there is some misplaced strands. Good for show, bad for exact match.

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Is this a Good Object to Print?

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Is this a Good Object to Print?

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§ NO: There are small details, the text is too fine, and it’s hollow with horizontal features in top of helmet.

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Good 3-D Printing Practices

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§ All of the parts shown were a successful print, but the parts didn’t turn out well.

§ Consider overall, bottom-up construction

§ Orient object for best production

§ Avoid weak points

§ Avoid fine details

Assignment

§ Design your own part: Ø  Recommended to create a part for your AEV Ø  Save your part as both a SolidWorks part file and also as

an .stl format for use by the Makerware software

§ Each group must turn in (1) copy of printed Drawing (Isometric & Orthographic with dimensions).

§ Each group can submit a .STL file to the Carmen dropbox if desired to have part printed.

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3-D Printing Summary

§ Adhere to constraints of printer and consider good 3-D printing construction

§ Create your own object (SW-25) •  Hard copy of detail drawing due in Lab 8A •  Can submit .STL to Carmen dropbox by 5:00

Friday, March 21st.

§ Review for your Midterm Exam 2 (Solidworks) and Lab Proficiency Quiz (LPQ)