Towards Additive Manufacture of Next Generation Prosthetics, Assessing Emerging CAD Strategies for Improving the Existing CAD Process

The research project that this work comes from aims to address the issues and inefficiencies of current CAD systems in regards to working on multiple scales, with a particular focus on improving prosthetic design. Working from the micron scale to the macro scale and following on from work that defined a criteria of necessary material properties, this paper is a continuation of previous work that attempts to answer the research question ‘How can new CAD strategies be applied to improve the efficiency of producing parts with these necessary material properties?’ A selection of emerging CAD strategies from the last five years have been selected with a view of improving the hybrid process order created in the previous study. Each of these processes is introduced, and their pros and cons compared before identifying the areas of the CAD criteria that they can improve efficiency. Testing was performed using the software if it is available to see areas of improvement first-hand

Artificial Vascular Bifurcations – Design and Modelling

Sharp corners in additive manufactured (AM) bifurcated vascular networks cause mechanical aggregation and unrealistic numerical results. A novel parametric bifurcation model was adapted in this paper to generate 3D rounded bifurcations that would solve this problem. Parameters and control variables in the parametric model were selected according to the design rules and the extended parametric map. Preliminary computational fluid dynamic studies were carried out in order to link hydrodynamic risks with local geometry designs. Both positive and negative aspects were found in such designs

DESIGNING END USE COMPONENTS FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING Exploring experiences, knowledge and information requirements

The primary aim of this study was to develop an understanding of the experience, the current knowledge regarding the design of end-user components for series production in additive manufacturing (AM) and the information needs of designers involved in designing end-user components for AM. To achieve this, the survey intended to uncover the following aspects of the topic: 1. If and how frequently AM technologies are used by designers for series production of end-user components 2. To what extend designers have had experience of designing end-user components for AM 3. Which aspects are important when designing end-user components for additive 4. Why designers have or not have designed end-user components for series production in AM 5. How designers have learned how to design for AM and which resources they have used 6. What designers would like to know about Design for AM 7. How they prefer this information to be conveye

A framework for mapping design for additive manufacturing knowledge for industrial and product design

© 2018, © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) is a growing field of enquiry. Over the past few years, the scientific community has begun to explore this topic to provide a basis for supporting professional design practice. However, current knowledge is still largely fragmented, difficult to access and inconsistent in language and presentation. This paper seeks to collate and organise this dispersed but growing body of knowledge, using a single and coherent conceptual framework. The framework is based on a generic design process model and consists of five parts: Conceptual design, Embodiment design, Detail design and Process planning and Process selection. 81 articles on DfAM are mapped onto the framework to provide, for the first time, a clear summary of the state of the art across the whole design process. Nine directions for the future of DfAM research are then proposed

A systematic approach to the characterisation of human impact injury scenarios in sport

Background: In contact sports (e.g. American football or rugby), injuries resulting from impacts are widespread. There have been several attempts to identify and collate, within a conceptual framework, factors influencing the likelihood of an injury. To effectively define an injury event it is necessary to systematically consider all potential causal factors but none of the previous approaches are complete in this respect. Aims: Firstly, to develop a superior deterministic contextual sequential (DCS) model to promote a complete and logical description of interrelated injury event factors. Secondly, to demonstrate systematic use of the model to construct enhanced perspectives for impact-injury research. Method: Previous models were examined and elements of best practice synthesised into a new DCS framework description categorising the types of causal factors influencing injury. The approach’s internal robustness is demonstrated by consideration of its completeness, lack of redundancy, and logical consistency. Results: The model’s external validity and worth are demonstrated through its use to generate superior descriptive injury models, experimental protocols and intervention opportunities. Comprehensive research perspectives have been developed using a common rugby impact-injury scenario as an example; this includes: a detailed description of the injury event, an experimental protocol for a human-on-surrogate reconstruction, and a series of practical interventions in the sport of rugby aimed at mitigating the risk of injury. Conclusions: Our improved characterisation tool presents a structured approach to identify pertinent factors relating to an injury

Investigation of design for additive manufacturing in professional design practice

© 2018 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies are widely adopted in design practice for prototyping. However, the extent to which practitioners are knowledgeable and experienced in designing components for series production using AM remains poorly understood. This study presents the results of an online survey aimed at uncovering this emerging design activity, with additional evidence provided by semi-structured interviews with 18 designers. One hundred ten practising designers responded. The majority of the respondents remain sceptical about the potential for AM as a process for series production, citing cost and technical capabilities as key barriers. Only 23 reported experience in designing components for series production using AM, with the majority of these designing parts to be produced from plastic. The survey revealed that these designers have developed their own ‘design rules’ based primarily on personal experience. These rules, however, tended to focus on ensuring ‘printability’ and did not provide support for taking advantage of the unique capabilities of AM processes. The designers tended to treat AM processes as a uniform set of production processes, and so the design rules they used were generic and not directed to the capabilities of specific AM processes

Development of a synthetic human thigh impact surrogate for sports personal protective equipment testing

© IMechE 2015. Synthetic impact surrogates are widely used in the sporting goods industry in the evaluation of personal protective equipment. Existing surrogates, exemplified by those used in safety standards, have many shortcomings, primarily relating to their mass, stiffness, geometries and levels of constraint which limit their biofidelity and subsequent usefulness in personal protective equipment evaluations. In sports, absence from competition is a primary severity measure for injuries; consequently, blunt trauma injuries, such as contusions and lacerations, become pertinent and serious concerns. It is important, therefore, that synthetic surrogates provide an adequate description of these soft tissues to effectively evaluate injury risk. A novel, multi-material human thigh surrogate has been presented with consideration to the tissue structures, geometries and simulant materials used. This study presents the detailed development stages undertaken to fabricate a multi-material synthetic soft tissue surrogate with skin, subcutaneous adipose and muscle tissue components. The resultant surrogate demonstrates the successful use of sequential moulding techniques to construct a full-scale anatomical human impact surrogate which can be used in personal protective equipment testing

Accurate measurements of Optical Turbulence with Sonic-anemometers

The minimization of optical turbulence in and around the dome is key to reach optimum performance on large telescopes equipped with adaptive optics. We present the method and preliminary results of in-situ measurements of optical measurements made using sonic-anemometers. We show the impact of correcting the raw data for aliasing, path averaging, pulse sequence delays and Taylors' hypothesis. Finally, we highlight the occurrence of non-Kolmogorov turbulence which complicates the quantitative impact of the measurements on the telescope's resolution

Optimized vascular network by stereolithography for tissue engineered skin

This paper demonstrates the essential and efficient methods to design, and fabricate optimal vascular network for tissue engineering structures based on their physiological conditions. Comprehensive physiological requirements in both micro and macro scales were considered in developing the optimisation design for complex vascular vessels. The optimised design was then manufactured by stereolithography process using materials that are biocompatible, elastic and surface bio-coatable. The materials are self-developed photocurable resin consist of BPA-ethoxylated-diacrylate, lauryl acrylate and isobornylacrylate with Irgacure® 184, the photoinitiator. The optimised vascular vessel offers many advantages: 1) it provides the maximum nutrient supply; 2) it minimises the recirculation areas and 3) it allows the wall shear stress on the vessel in a healthy range. The stereolithography manufactured vascular vessels were then embedded in the hydrogel seeded with cells. The results of in vitro studies show that the optimised vascular network has the lowest cell death rate compared with a pure hydrogel scaffold and a hydrogel scaffold embedded within a single tube in day seven. Consequently, these design and manufacture routes were shown to be viable for exploring and developing a high range complex and specialised artificial vascular networks