DEVELOPMENT OF A FUSED DEPOSITION MODELLING MACHINE FOR PLASTIC-BASED ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING PURPOSES

In this work, the development of a Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) machine was successfully carried out and reported. The machine was designed to boost local manufacturing capabilities in Nigeria by promoting the use of additive manufacturing techniques for the production of plastic-based prototypes, functional components and casting patterns. The machine consists of a heater bed, hot-end extruder, machine frame, controller and electrical circuitry and it was designed to have a working envelope with a maximum build volume of 200 x 200 x 200 mm3. The design of each machine component parts was analyzed and the structural capacity was assessed using finite element analysis (FEA) tool in Autodesk Inventor and COMSOL Multi-physics applications. The simulation result showed that maximum stress of 3.669 MPa was attained in one of the machine stands when a component aggregate load of 301.29 N was exerted on the frame structure. The machine component with a maximum resultant displacement of 0.04 mm was also observed while the minimum factor of safety was 12.5. This result shows that the design of the machine is satisfactory for its development since the yield strengths of the selected materials for the individual components were not surpassed by the stresses obtained from the FE analysis. Upon the machine development, it was able to produce prototypes of some vehicle logos which confirms its capability to perform the intention of its vehicle logos which confirms its capability to perform the intention of its development

AN ASSESSMENT OF NIGERIA WIND ENERGY POTENTIAL BASED ON TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ANALYSES

The energy requirement of Nigeria is increasing exponentially with little projects available to carter for this increasing demand. The primary source of energy in the country which is fossil fuel creates environmental pollution and is also finite in nature. Hence, there is a serious need to look for other alternative ways to meet up with the energy requirement of the country. This paper analysed some of the economic and sustainability benefits for Nigeria by deploying and integrating wind energy into her energy mix. The study was done with the RETScreen Clean Energy software tool, designed by Natural Resources Canada. The study began with a brief review of the various wind energy resource assessment done previously in the country and Maiduguri town was selected as the area of study from the reviews. The technical and financial analyses of the study showed that if the project is implemented it will be beneficial to Maiduguri town and Nigeria in the long run. The process of electricity generation from 100 units of VESTAS V80 in Maiduguri yielded MWh 525,600 and saves about 202,881.6 tonnes of CO2. Without incentives, the financial analysis showed that the project is not financially viable with the equity payback greater than the project life. Key issues affecting the development of wind energy technology in Nigeria were also discussed