Large-Scale Additive Manufacturing Machine

This master thesis contains an overview of the additive manufacturing technology and building process of the large-scale Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) additive manufacturing machine from the old Wafer Handling Diffusion machine. The thesis study is mainly focused on practical work and describes the techniques used during the project execution. The built machine can print large 3D prototypes from PLA plastic of three different colors. The final product of this thesis is a fully working large-scale AM machine made with the relatively small budget of 10.000 NOK which the university can use for educational purposes

Large scale additive manufacturing of eco-composites

The evolution of additive manufacturing processes is enabling the production of parts with improved dimensional accuracy, mechanical, physical and chemical properties [1]. New materials also contribute to this trend, and in this scope, eco-composites, materials with environmental and ecological advantages, which include natural polymers, have been acquiring increased relevance [2]. The purpose of this study is to develop composite material parts manufactured from recycled thermoplastics and natural fibres, in this case, wood residues. Additive manufacturing (fused deposition modelling) will be accomplished using a robot combined with extrusion unit. The objective is to access the influence of the main manufacturing parameters, such as temperature, distance between layers or deposition speed, on the final part characteristics, especially dimensional accuracy. Reverse engineering and several material analysis techniques will be employed to achieve this goal.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

From Architectured Materials to the Development of Large-scale Additive Manufacturing

Architectured materials are a rising class of materials that bring new possibilities in terms of functional properties, filling the gaps and pushing the limits of Ashby’s materials performance maps [1]. Capitalizing on the concepts of architectured materials, explorations of the potential applications of large-scale 3D printing techniques to civil engineering structures were recently implemented in the DEMOCRITE project

Design of a Cable-Driven Manipulator for Large-Scale Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing of concrete is a growing field of research, yet current motion platforms do not offer viable routes towards large scale deployable systems. This thesis presents the design and analysis of a novel cable-driven robot for use in large scale additive manufacturing. The system developed, termed SkyBAAM, is designed to be easily deployable to a construction site for on-site additive manufacturing of buildings and other large structures. The design philosophy behind this system is presented. Analysis of this system first explores the kinematics, and stiffness as a function of cable tension. Analysis of the workspace and singularities is also performed, and scaling laws for the system are examined. A prototype system that was built at ORNL is presented, and data from this system shows is suitability for large-scale printing. In order to scale this out to full-size deployment there are, however, challenges associated with scaling and workspace shape that are identified as targets for future research. However, the success of this system demonstrates the feasibility of cable-driven robots for large, deployable additive manufacturing systems

From Architectured Materials to Large-Scale Additive Manufacturing

The classical material-by-design approach has been extensively perfected by materials scientists, while engineers have been optimising structures geometrically for centuries. The purpose of architectured materials is to build bridges across themicroscale ofmaterials and themacroscale of engineering structures, to put some geometry in the microstructure. This is a paradigm shift. Materials cannot be considered monolithic anymore. Any set of materials functions, even antagonistic ones, can be envisaged in the future. In this paper, we intend to demonstrate the pertinence of computation for developing architectured materials, and the not-so-incidental outcome which led us to developing large-scale additive manufacturing for architectural applications

A laser beam deflection system for heat treatments in large scale additive manufacturing

Large Scale Additive Manufacturing (LSAM) based on plastic raw material is known for high material output and thus, increased productivity. For an improvement of part properties LSAM is combined with a laser process. Depending on the deposition direction, the laser beam needs to be repositioned to reach the space between two adjacent and consecutively printed strands. Therefore, an optomechanical design is required that allows variable orientation of the laser beam. It consists of a combination of an elliptical, tube-like mirror with an additional, rotatable flat mirror in one of its focal axes. The deflected laser beam hits the second focal axis where the extruder nozzle is located. Thus, > 75% of the nozzle circumference is covered during a laser beam treatment. Both mirrors are individually designed custom-made parts. Its functional verification lays the foundation for an improved additive manufacturing process, which aims to homogenize the component structures to improve the mechanical properties of 3D-printed components

Design automation for customised and large-scale additive manufacturing : a case study on custom kayaks

Additive Manufacturing (AM) offers the potential to increase the ability to customise large-scale plastic components. However, a substantial amount of manual work is still required during the customisation process, both in design and manufacturing. This paper looks into how the additive manufacturing of mass customised large-scale products can be supported. Data was collected through interaction with industrial partners and potential customers in a case study regarding the customisation of kayaks. As a result, the paper proposes a model-based methodology which combines design automation with a user interface. The results point to the benefit of the proposed methodology in terms of design efficiency, as well as in terms of displaying results to the end user in an understandable format

Water-Based Robotic Fabrication: Large-Scale Additive Manufacturing of Functionally Graded Hydrogel Composites via Multichamber Extrusion

Additive manufacturing (AM) of regenerated biomaterials is in its infancy despite the urgent need for alternatives to fuel-based products and in spite of the exceptional mechanical properties, availability, and biodegradability associated with water-based natural polymers. This study presents water-based robotic fabrication as a design approach and enabling technology for AM of biodegradable hydrogel composites. Our research focuses on the combination of expanding the dimensions of the fabrication envelope, developing structural materials for additive deposition, incorporating material-property gradients, and manufacturing architectural-scale biodegradable systems. This work presents a robotically controlled AM system to produce biodegradable-composite objects combining natural hydrogels, such as chitosan and sodium alginate, with other organic aggregates. It demonstrates the approach by designing, building, and evaluating the mechanics and controls of a multichamber extrusion system. Finally, it provides evidence of large-scale composite objects fabricated by our technology that display graded properties and feature sizes ranging from micro- to macroscale. Fabricated objects may be chemically stabilized or dissolved in water and recycled within minutes. Applications include the fabrication of fully recyclable products or temporary architectural components such as tent structures with graded mechanical and optical properties. Proposed applications demonstrate environmental capabilities such as water-storing structures, hydration-induced shape forming, and product disintegration over time.Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Media Laboratory (Mediated Matter research group)Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical engineering (Additive Manufacturing (2.S998), Spring 2014

Hangprinter for large scale additive manufacturing using fused particle fabrication with recycled plastic and continuous feeding

The life cycle of plastic is a key source of carbon emissions. Yet, global plastics production has quadrupled in 40 years and only 9 % has been recycled. If these trends continue, carbon emissions from plastic wastes would reach 15 % of global carbon budgets by 2050. An approach to reducing plastic waste is to use distributed recycling for additive manufacturing (DRAM) where virgin plastic products are replaced by locally manufactured recycled plastic products that have no transportation-related carbon emissions. Unfortunately, the design of most 3-D printers forces an increase in the machine cost to expand for recycling plastic at scale. Recently, a fused granular fabrication (FGF)/fused particle fabrication (FPF) large-scale printer was demonstrated with a GigabotX extruder based on the open source cable driven Hangprinter concept. To further improve that system, here a lower-cost recyclebot direct waste plastic extruder is demonstrated and the full designs, assembly and operation are detailed. The <$1,700 machine’s accuracy and printing performance are quantified, and the printed parts mechanical strength is within the range of other systems. Along with support from the Hangprinter and DUET3 communities, open hardware developers have a rich ecosystem to modify in order to print directly from waste plastic for DRAM