Assisting Product Designers with Balaancing Strength and Surface Texture of Handheld Products Made from 3D Printed Polymers
- Publication Type:
- Thesis
- Issue Date:
- 2020
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This research provides product designers using 3D printing to manufacture handheld products for end-use with a new approach, which enables them to make knowledge-directed decisions with regard to build orientation in relation to part strength and surface appearance. Because 3D printing machines deposit material in horizontal layers, they become anisotropic, which means they display different physical properties in different directions. To ascertain how much these physical properties differ, test samples were 3D printed in three different polymers and in three different build orientations, which were horizontal at 0 deg, inclined at 45 deg, and vertical at 90 deg.
Product designers also consider how the product will feel and look when it is interacted with, which makes the surface texture a key consideration. The surface of parts made through 3D printing can display characteristics such as stair-stepping; therefore, it is essential to visualise the surface before printing. To address this, six 3D printing software applications were assessed for their ability to visually represent the surface texture of a part before printing. The data resulting from the mechanical property testing was translated into a set of tools that represent the data graphically. The tools enable comparisons to be made between the mechanical properties of the three polymers, namely ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene), TPGDA (Tripropylene Glycol Diacrylate) and PA (Polyamide). The assessment of the six 3D printing software applications showed that Cura provides the most adequate representation of a part's surface.
This research is significant, since to date, no data or tools such as the results presented here on the mechanical properties of the three polymers at a 45 deg incline have been published, nor is there any data that enables the direct comparison of the three polymers in relation to horizontal, inclined at 45 degrees, and vertical build orientations. The ability to visually represent surface texture in relation to build orientation through Cura before printing will assist product designers. Both in combination or individually, the results of this research will provide product designers with a new approach which will help them make knowledge-directed decisions when designing a part to be manufactured through 3D printing in the polymers ABS, TPGDA, or PA.
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