Filtering by
- All Subjects: 3D Printing
- Creators: Bhate, Dhruv
While many 3D printed structures are rigid and stationary, the potential for complex geometries offers a chance for creative and useful motion. Printing structures larger than the print bed, reducing the need for support materials, maintaining multiple states without actuation, and mimicking origami folding are some of the opportunities offered by 3D printed hinges. Current efforts frequently employ advanced materials and equipment that are not available to all users. The purpose of this project was to develop a parametric, print-in-place, self-locking hinge that could be printed using very basic materials and equipment. Six main designs were developed, printed, and tested for their strength in maintaining a locked position. Two general design types were used: 1) sliding hinges and 2) removable pin hinges. The test results were analyzed to identify and explain the causes of observed trends. The amount of interference between the pin vertex and knuckle hole edge was identified as the main factor in hinge strength. After initial testing, the designs were modified and applied to several structures, with successful results for a collapsible hexagon and a folding table. While the initial goal was to have one CAD model as a final product, the need to evaluate tradeoffs depending on the exact application made this impossible. Instead, a set of design guidelines was created to help users make strategic decisions and create their own design. Future work could explore additional scaling effects, printing factors, or other design types.
With FDM printing becoming ubiquitous within the commercial and private sectors, there are many who would want to print a part without supports for a variety of reasons. Usually, they want to prints a part with difficult to reach places that would make it impossible to remove any support material without damaging the part. I will be going over options to consider when designing parts to ensure a given model will be able to be printed without support material.
The goal of this work is to identify methods of creating graded material transitions that can improve the ultimate tensile strength of a multi-material component while maintaining other model properties. Particular focus is given towards transitions that can be produced using low cost manufacturing equipment. This work presents a series of methods for creating graded material transitions which include previously established transition types as well as several novel techniques. Test samples of each transition type were produced using additive manufacturing and their performance was measured. It is shown that some types of transitions can increase the ultimate strength of a part, while others may introduce new stress concentrations that reduce performance. This work then presents a method for adjusting the elastic modulus of a component to which graded material transitions have been added to allow the original design properties to be met.