Academic literature on the topic 'Design and 3D printing'

In this report, my work on 3D-printing will be presented. This project is what constitutes my examination project in the education of industrial design engineering.   3D-printers are tools that have undergone great development in recent years. Through this development, the machines have become increasingly accessible to private individuals thanks to reduced prices, easyer use and higher quality. Through an increased use of the tool on a more private level, new opportunities are created for how we manufacture products, as well as how our attitude to its components are viewed.   The purpose of the work was to investigate how 3D-printing can be used to create more efficient and sustainable products with a focus on users, manufacturers and the environment. The goal was to develop an approach to utilize the function of a 3D-printer in a way that contributes to higher sustainability and efficiency, where the end result should contribute to this without forcing the user to make any decisive sacrifices.   The work has been carried out with a three-part process, divided into the phases Inspiration, Ideation and implementation, which together constitute an iterative design process. Initially in the inspiration phase, inspiration was created for the work with the help of a literature study, theory collection and a context analysis. Then began the ideation phase, whose purpose was to start creating ideas and conceptualize the inspiration that has previously been collected in the inspiration phase. To implement these ideas and concepts, the implementation phase was carried out to achieve a more completed and implemented concept.   The work resulted in the concept TonePrint. TonePrint is a speaker and a pair of headphones that work together in a form of ecosystem to make the interaction smoother for the user when changing audio source. The product TonePrint is a product that the user 3D-prints by oneself. This contributes to a more efficient and sustainable product as well as production. The product is designed in a way that enables the user to configure the product based on their own needs, which contributes to increased personalization. It allows the user to reuse components from previous devices that would otherwise be discarded, or select components based on their own liking and taste.<br>I den här rapporten kommer mitt arbete rörande 3D-printeing presenteras. Det här projektet är det som utgör mitt examensarbete i utbildningen högskoleingenjör inom teknisk design.   3D-printers är verktyg som har genomgått stor utveckling de senaste åren. Genom den här utvecklingen har maskinerna blivit allt mer tillgängliga för privatpersoner tack vare lägre priser, smidigare användning och högre kvalitet. Genom en ökad användning av verktyget på mer privata plan skapas nya möjligheter för hur vi tillverkar produkter, samt hur vi ser på produkter och dess uppbyggande komponenter.   Syftet med arbetet var att undersöka hur 3D-printing kan användas för att skapa mer effektiva och hållbara produkter med fokus på användare, tillverkare och miljön. Målet var att ta fram ett tillvägagångssätt att nyttja de egenskaper en 3D-printer medför på ett sätt som bidrar till en högre hållbarhet och effektivitet, där det slutliga resultatet ska bidra till detta utan att tvinga användaren att göra några avgörande uppoffringar.    Arbetet har genomförts med en tre delad process, indelad i faserna Inspiration, Ideation och implementation som tillsammans utgör en iterativ designprocess. Initialt i inspirationsfasen skapades inspiration för arbetet med hjälp av en litteraturstudie, teoriinsamling samt en kontextanalys. Därefter påbörjades ideationsfasen, vars syfte var att börja skapa idéer och konceptualisera den inspirationen som tidigare blivit insamlad i inspirationsfasen. För att implementera dessa idéer och koncept utfördes implementationsfasen för att nå ett mer färdigställt och förverkligat koncept.   Arbetet resulterade i konceptet TonePrint. TonePrint är en högtalare och ett par hörlurar som samverkar i ett form av ekosystem för att göra interaktionen smidigare för användaren vid byte av ljudkälla. Produkten TonePrint är en produkt som användaren själv 3D-printar. Detta bidrar till en mer effektiv och hållbar produkt samt produktion. Produkten är utformad på ett sätt som möjliggör för användaren att konfigurera produkten utifrån eget behov vilket bidrar till en ökad personalisering. Det möjliggör för användaren att återanvända komponenter från tidigare enheter som annars skulle slängas, eller välja komponenter utifrån eget tycke och smak.

Supercapacitors, also known as electrochemical capacitors, have shown great potential as energy storage devices; and 3D printing likewise as a manufacturing technique. This research progressively investigates combining these two technologies to fabricate 3D-printed, electrochemical double-layer capacitors (EDLCs). Small EDLCs were designed in a sandwich structure with an FDM-printed plastic frame and carbon electrodes. Inkjet printing was initially combined with FDM printing to produce a pilot sample with a silver ink current collector, however this performed poorly (Cs = 6 mF/g). Henceforth a paste extrusion system was added to the FDM printer to deposit the current collectors and electrodes, fabricating the entire device in a single continuous process. This process was progressively developed and tested, ultimately attaining specific capacitances of 200 mF/g. The fully integrated 3D printing process used to manufacture the EDLCs was a novel approach. Combining the FDM printer with a paste extruder allowed for a high degree of dimensional accuracy, as well as simplifying the production process. This aspect of the design functioned successfully, without significant faults, and proved a reliable fabrication method. The later designs used in this study provided the EDLCs extendable by incorporating connection jacks. This was to create the possibility to increase capacitance simply by connecting multiple EDLCs together. Tests of this feature showed that it worked well, with the extendable EDLCs delivering outputs very close to the theoretical maximum efficiency of the unit. Carbon conductive paint was applied as a current collector and electrode for the 3D printed EDLCs in an exploration of metal-free 3D printed supercapacitors. These metal-free EDLCs were found to provide around 60% of the specific capacitance of the best performing EDLC variant produced (silver paint current collectors with activated carbon and carbon paint mixture electrodes). Although considerable improvement is required to produce EDLC samples with comparable capacitances to existing commercial manufacturing techniques, this study lays important groundwork in this area, and has introduces effective and innovative design ideas for supercapacitors and integrated 3D printing processes.

The area of this work is a combination of draping and printing. It strives towards the technique that dazzles the eye with illusions of more than one dimension. As a viewer you will believe that the prints are real drapings while they are flat surfaces. Today prints in fashion are categorized as placed prints or all-over prints, and generally created as a flat surface to decorate the garments. In this work the idea is to manipulate and challenge the boundaries of print and give it life through the body shapes and in the movement. Potentially this work could be an introduction to a new way of working with prints in fashion. This work could poosibly be presented as a new technique where placed- print and all-over prints comes together- called placed all-over prints. Also, it could develop into further techniques in using two-dimensional flatness and save fabric in using photography as an option to the real three-dimensional drapings. Furthermore could it mean savings in material as a conscious choice in the process ? This investigation explores two particular kinds of techniques, - print and draping, that are merged into one expression. The aims of this work is to find new ways of using print in combination with draping in dress and explore the possibilities to find a new technique to create interesting womenswear. To unite dimensions like two-dimensional and three-dimensional as a method of finding new forms and expressions. Through experiments with striped textiles the focus is to investigate the possibilities of greater visual effects on two-dimensional prints. For a depth and to exaggerate the directions in the fabric before translating it into a flat surface the striped textile can be a tool for further design. The striped textile has the potential to help the eye to understand the directions in the print and can be used in more than one dimension and color. To explore how to create 3D effect on 2D in print design through draping in dress is the aim of this work.<br>Program: Modedesignutbildningen

Rapid prototyping is a relativity new technology and is based on layered manufacturing which has similarities to the method an ordinary desktop paper printer works. This research is to obtain a better understanding on how to use computer graphics software, in this particular case Autodesk Maya, to create a model. The goal is to understand how to create a suitable mesh of a 3D model for use with a 3D printer and produce a printed model that is equivalent to the CAD software 3D model. This specific topic has not been scientifically documented which has resulted in an actual 3D model.

This research investigates the potential of the general public to actively design their own products and let consumers either manufacture by themselves or send the files to manufacturers to be produced. This approach anticipates the rapid growth of fabrication technology, particularly in Additive Manufacturing (AM)/3D printing. Recent developments in the field of AM/3D printing have led to renewed interest in how to manufacture customised products and in a way that will allow consumers to create bespoke products more easily. These technologies can enhance the understanding of non-technology compliant consumers and bring the manufacturing process closer to them. Consequently, to make AM/3D printing more accessible and easier to employ by the general public, design aspects need to be developed to be as simple to operate in the same manner as AM/3D printing technologies. These technologies will then attract consumers who want to produce Do-It-Yourself (DIY) products. This study suggests a Computer-aided Consumer Design (CaCODE) system as user- friendly design software to simplify the Computer Aided Design (CAD) stages that are required to produce 3D model data required by the AM/3D printing process. This software will be an easy-to-operate design system where consumers interact with parameters of designed forms easily instead of operating conventional CAD. In addition, this research investigates the current capabilities of AM/3D printing technologies in producing consumer products. To uncover the potential of consumer-led design and manufacturing, CaCODE has been developed for consumer evaluation, which is needed to measure the appropriateness of the tool. In addition, a range of consumer product samples as pens has been built using a range of different materials, AM/3D printing technologies and additional post-processing methods. This was undertaken to evaluate consumer acceptance of the AM/3D printed product based on products perceived quality. Forty non-designer participants, 50% male and 50% female, from 5 to 64 years old, 6-7 participants per ten-year age groups in 6 groups, were recruited. The results indicated that 75% of the participants would like to design their own product using consumer design software. The study compared how consumers interacted with the 3D model to manipulate the shape by using two methods: indirect manipulation (sliders) and direct manipulation (drag points). The majority of the participants would prefer to use the direct manipulation because they felt it was easy to use and enabled them to enjoy the design process. The study concluded that the direct manipulation was more acceptable because it enabled users to touch the digital product and manipulate it, making it more intuitive and natural. The research finds that there is a potential for consumers to design a product using user-friendly design tools. Using these findings, a consumer design tool concept was created for future development. The study indicated that 53% of participants would like to use products made by AM/3D printing although they still wanted the surface finish of injection moulded parts. However, the AM/3D printing has advantages that can fulfil the participants preference such as multi-materials from the material jetting method and it is proved that additional post-processing can increase participants acceptance level.

This dissertation investigates advances in additive manufacturing (AM) technology to determine the feasibility of low-cost 3D printing of horn antennas. Relevant antenna theory and current 3D printing technologies are reviewed and a literature review is conducted looking specifically at microwave and RF devices that have been fabricated using 3D printing technologies. The literature indicates that the fabrication of antennas using AM and metallisation techniques is realisable. One of the objectives of this study has been to design, fabricate and test the performance of lowcost 3D printed antennas to determine their feasibility. To achieve this, a commercial X-band pyramidal horn has been replicated using the microwave simulation package FEKO. The X-band horn has been fabricated using an FDM-based 3D printer and metallised using conductive paint. Ku-band pyramidal and conical horns have also been designed and 3D printed using the same method and have been metallised using both conductive paint and electroplating. The fabricated horns have been measured and tested in an anechoic chamber with the measured results analysed. The fabricated X-band pyramidal horn achieved a gain of 9.2 dBi with an input reflection coefficient of −11.9 dB at a centre frequency of 10 GHz. This is in agreement with the measured gain and reflection coefficient of the X-band commercial horn. The Ku-band pyramidal horns that have been metallised using conductive paint and copper plating achieved gains of 17.5 dBi and 17.7 dBi respectively, measured at a centre frequency of 15 GHz. The input reflection coefficients for the painted Ku-band pyramidal horns are measured as −24.2 dB while the copper plated horns are measured as −23.3 dB. The second set of Ku-band conical horn antennas designed have also been metallised using conductive paint and copper plating. These two antennas achieved gains of 12.0 dBi and 16.6 dBi respectively at a centre frequency of 15 GHz. The input reflection coefficient for the painted Kuband conical horn is −15.2 dB while the plated version has a reflection coefficient of −18.3 dB. The total cost of fabricating and testing each antenna amounted to approximately ZAR 475 per antenna, an order of magnitude lower than the price of a traditional cast or milled antenna. The method of fabrication demonstrated in this report is relatively fast and inexpensive while producing favourable results. As such, this method is highly suited for rapid prototyping and development of more advanced antenna designs.

Ionizing radiation is often used within medicine for diagnosis and treatments. Because ionizingradiation can be harmful to the body, it is important to know how it affects the tissue. Dosimetryis the study of how ionizing radiation deposits energy in a material. To measure how much ionizingradiation is deposited in the body, gas-filled detectors are often used. An ionization chamber isa type of gas-filled detector and exists in different shapes and sizes, depending on what kind ofmeasurements it is made for. Because ionization chambers are relatively expensive, it is often notpossible to buy one for each type of measurement that is to be done. This results in ionizationchambers being used for measurements they are not optimized for. This report evaluates thepossibility of 3D printing ionization chambers to make it easier to optimize them for specificmeasurements. The process included creating models of ionization chambers using CAD-software,slicing them and then 3D printing them. The 3D printed models were then brought to the SwedishRadiation Safety Authority for measurements. The ionization chambers were connected to highvoltage, and exposed to ionizing radiation in the form of high-intensity gamma-ray fields. Theoutput current of the ionization chamber was measured, which is proportional to the field intensity.The results were similar to those of a commercial ionization chamber. The conclusion is that it ispossible to 3D print ionization chambers. However, to get more accurate results, the design has tobe further optimized and more measurements need to be done.

De traditionella armproteser som tillverkas i utvecklingsländer står inför stora problem i att leverera patienter med lämpliga hjälpmedel. Processen är inte bara tidskrävande eftersom varje enhet måste anpassas för varje enskild användare men vissa komponenter kan inte produceras lokalt vilket driver upp priset ytterligare. Syftet med detta examensarbete var att utveckla en armprotes för utvecklingsländerna med hjälp av additiv tillverkning (3D Printing) för klienten 3D Life Prints som baseras i Nairobi, Kenya. En protes är ett hjälpmedel som används för att underlätta en amputerad människa i dagliga aktiviteter och med hjälp av additiv tillverkning kan även en lokal tillverkningsprocess utvecklas och förbättras vilket skulle kunna minska tiden för tillverkning och distribution av proteser. Den initiala protesen, som låg till grund för designarbetet, var en underarmsprotes som fortfarande var i utvecklingsstadiet hos klienten. Protesen tillverkades med hjälp av tillverkningsmetoden Fused Deposit Modelling (FDM), som har den fördelen att den använder sig av relativt billiga 3D skrivare. För att sammanfatta syftet med projektet utvecklades följande frågeställningar 1. Hur tillverkas, distribueras och används konventionella proteser i jämförelse med additivt tillverkade proteser i Nairobi, Kenya? 2. Vem är den primära användaren av proteser i utvecklingsländer, vilka problem upplevs hos dagens lösningar och vilka faktorer anses vara den viktigaste hos användaren? Och varför?  3. Hur ska additivt tillverkade proteser utformas för optimal användning i utvecklingsländer?  Förutom att besvara frågeställningarna var målet att utvecklingen av systemet skulle leda till förbättrad funktionalitet för användaren och underlätta tillverkningen för organisationen.  För att få en allmän översikt över det vetenskapliga området av additivt tillverkade proteser studerades kontexten för utvecklingsländer, användarcentrerad design (eftersom syftet var att förbättra en produkt för en specifik användare), armproteser och additiv tillverkning. Resultatet, från de olika stadier av designprocessen, var den slutgiltiga designen av "3D Life Arm". Det slutliga systemet bestod av fyra huvudkomponenter, Kroppsselen, Inlägget, Proteshanden och Hylsan. Komponenterna använde sig utav additiv tillverkning i både styvt material (Kroppsselen, Hylsan och Inlägget) och flexibelt material (Proteshanden). Lokalt tillgängliga komponenter användes där additiv tillverkning inte var möjligt till exempel fisketråd och skruvar. En slutsats drogs att de två faktorer som ansågs viktigast för användaren var att produkten skulle vara estetiskt tilltalande och billig. Även sociala stigman spelar en stor roll och enligt användare och experter i Nairobi, måste protesen efterlikna den saknade armen så mycket som möjligt för att kunna smälta in. Författarna konstaterade att kostnaden var den viktigaste faktorn när man utformar proteser för utvecklingsländerna, eftersom användaren i dagsläget inte har råd med de proteser som tillverkas i Nairobi. Sammanfattningsvis utfördes en kostnads- och tidsanalys för att kontrollera tillverkningskostnaderna för hela systemet. Med tre skrivare kunde alla delar tillverkas för 282 kronor och skulle ta cirka 15 timmar och 15 minuter att skriva ut som är betydligt lägre än de funktionella proteser som tillverkades i Nairobi. Ytterligare utvärderingar krävs för att fastställa att protesen kommer att klara av påfrestningarna från dagliga aktiviteter hos användaren och en fungerande strategi för passning måste utvärderas ytterligare. Författarna tror dock att med hjälp av en fullt utbildad protestillverkare finns det en framtid för additiv tillverkning av armproteser.<br>The traditional prosthetic arms that are being fitted in developing countries are facing major issues in suppling patients with proper assistive aids. Not only is the process time consuming with every single unit having to be customized for the user but some parts can’t be locally produced which drives up price even further. The objective of this master thesis was to develop a prosthetic arm for developing countries with the help of additive manufacturing (3D printing) for the client 3D Life Prints which are based in Nairobi, Kenya. A prosthesis is used to aid an amputee in daily living activities. With additive manufacturing the intention is that a local manufacturing process could be developed and improved which would reduce the time of fitting and distributing a prosthesis. The initial prosthesis, that was the origin of the design, was a below elbow prosthetic arm that was being developed by the client. The prosthesis was fabricated with the additive manufacturing process fused deposition modelling (FDM) which has the advantage of providing the cheapest printers. To summarize the aim of the project the research questions that was established was as followed 1. How are conventional prosthetic arms generally being manufactured, distributed and used compared to additive manufactured prostheses in Nairobi, Kenya?  2. Who is the primary user of prosthetic arms in developing countries, what problems are they facing with current solutions and what factors are considered as the most important? And why? 3. How should additive manufactured prostheses be designed for optimal usage in developing countries? In addition to answer the research questions the aim was that the development of the system would lead to enhanced functionality for the user and to facilitate manufacturing for the organization. To get a general overview of additive manufacturing prostheses the fields theories that was studied included context of developing countries, user centred design (since the aim was to approve on a product which needed to suit a specific user), upper limb prostheses and additive manufacturing. As a result, from different stages of the design process a final design was reached called the “3D Life Arm”.  The final system was comprised of four main components, the Harness system, the Insert, the Cover and the Socket. These components used additive manufacturing in both rigid material (Harness parts, Socket and Insert) and flexible material (the Cover). Locally available components were used for parts not feasible to additive manufacture e.g. fishing wire and screws. The two factors that were concluded to be the most important for the user were the aesthetic appeal and cost. With social stigmas playing a major part according to users and experts in Nairobi, the prosthesis needs to resemble the missing limb as much as possible. It was concluded that cost was the major factor when designing prostheses for developing countries since user just wasn’t able to afford the prostheses that was being manufactured in Nairobi. In the end a cost and time analysis was conducted to verify what price the complete system would need to be manufactured. With three printers all parts could be printed for the price of 282 SEK and would take approximately 15 hours and 15 minutes to print which is considerably lower than that of the functional prosthesis being distributed in Nairobi. Further evaluations need to be done to establish that the prosthesis will manage the strains and stresses of daily living activities of the user and a complete fitting strategy needs to be evaluated further. It’s the authors belief however, that with the help of fully educated prosthetist there is a future for additive manufacturing of upper limb amputees.