Choosing the Best Direction of Printing for Additive Manufacturing Process in Medical Applications Using a New Geometric Complexity Model Based on Part CAD Data

Additive manufacturing processes is now experiencing significant growth and is at the origin of intense research activity (optimization of topology, biomedical applications, etc.). One of the characteristics of this method is that the geometric complexity is free. The complexity of a CAD model is also a field of research. The basic idea is that the complexity of a component has implications in design and especially in manufacturing. Indeed, industrial competitiveness in the mechanical field generated the need to produce increasingly complex systems and parts (in terms of geometry, topology ...). Part deposition orientation is also very important factor of additive manufacturing as it effects build time, support structure, dimensional accuracy, surface finish and cost of the part. A number of layered manufacturing process specific parameters and constraints have to be considered while deciding the part deposition orientation. Determination of an optimal part deposition orientation is a difficult and time consuming task as one has to trade-off among various contradicting objectives like part surface finish and build time. This paper describes and compares various attempts made to determine part deposition orientation of orthoses using geometric complexity model and part CAD information. (c) Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019

Challenges for Sustained Observing and Forecasting Systems in the Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean community represented in this paper is the result of more than 30 years of EU and nationally funded coordination, which has led to key contributions in science concepts and operational initiatives. Together with the establishment of operational services, the community has coordinated with universities, research centers, research infrastructures and private companies to implement advanced multi-platform and integrated observing and forecasting systems that facilitate the advancement of operational services, scientific achievements and mission-oriented innovation. Thus, the community can respond to societal challenges and stakeholders needs, developing a variety of fit-for-purpose services such as the Copernicus Marine Service. The combination of state-of-the-art observations and forecasting provides new opportunities for downstream services in response to the needs of the heavily populated Mediterranean coastal areas and to climate change. The challenge over the next decade is to sustain ocean observations within the research community, to monitor the variability at small scales, e.g., the mesoscale/submesoscale, to resolve the sub-basin/seasonal and inter-annual variability in the circulation, and thus establish the decadal variability, understand and correct the model-associated biases and to enhance model-data integration and ensemble forecasting for uncertainty estimation. Better knowledge and understanding of the level of Mediterranean variability will enable a subsequent evaluation of the impacts and mitigation of the effect of human activities and climate change on the biodiversity and the ecosystem, which will support environmental assessments and decisions. Further challenges include extending the science-based added-value products into societal relevant downstream services and engaging with communities to build initiatives that will contribute to the 2030 Agenda and more specifically to SDG14 and the UN's Decade of Ocean Science for sustainable development, by this contributing to bridge the science-policy gap. The Mediterranean observing and forecasting capacity was built on the basis of community best practices in monitoring and modeling, and can serve as a basis for the development of an integrated global ocean observing system

Challenges for Sustained Observing and Forecasting Systems in the Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean community represented in this paper is the result of more than 30 years of EU and nationally funded coordination, which has led to key contributions in science concepts and operational initiatives. Together with the establishment of operational services, the community has coordinated with universities, research centers, research infrastructures and private companies to implement advanced multi-platform and integrated observing and forecasting systems that facilitate the advancement of operational services, scientific achievements and mission-oriented innovation. Thus, the community can respond to societal challenges and stakeholders needs, developing a variety of fit-for-purpose services such as the Copernicus Marine Service. The combination of state-of-the-art observations and forecasting provides new opportunities for downstream services in response to the needs of the heavily populated Mediterranean coastal areas and to climate change. The challenge over the next decade is to sustain ocean observations within the research community, to monitor the variability at small scales, e.g., the mesoscale/submesoscale, to resolve the sub-basin/seasonal and inter-annual variability in the circulation, and thus establish the decadal variability, understand and correct the model-associated biases and to enhance model-data integration and ensemble forecasting for uncertainty estimation. Better knowledge and understanding of the level of Mediterranean variability will enable a subsequent evaluation of the impacts and mitigation of the effect of human activities and climate change on the biodiversity and the ecosystem, which will support environmental assessments and decisions. Further challenges include extending the science-based added-value products into societal relevant downstream services and engaging with communities to build initiatives that will contribute to the 2030 Agenda and more specifically to SDG14 and the UN's Decade of Ocean Science for sustainable development, by this contributing to bridge the science-policy gap. The Mediterranean observing and forecasting capacity was built on the basis of community best practices in monitoring and modeling, and can serve as a basis for the development of an integrated global ocean observing system

In vivo XCT bone characterization of lattice structured implants fabricated by additive manufacturing

Several cylindrical specimens and dental implants, presenting diagonal lattice structures with different cell sizes (600, 900 and 1200 μm) were additively manufactured by selective laser melting process. Then they were implanted for two months in a sheep. After removal, they were studied by Archimedes’ method as well as X-ray computed tomography in order to assess the penetration of bone into the lattice. We observed that the additive manufactured parts were geometrically conformed to the theoretical specifications. However, several particles were left adhering to the surface of the lattice, thereby partly or entirely obstructing the cells. Nevertheless, bone penetration was clearly visible. We conclude that the 900 μm lattice cell size is more favourable to bone penetration than the 1200 μm lattice cell size, as the bone penetration is 84% for 900 μm against 54% for 1200 μm cell structures. The lower bone penetration value for the 1200 μm lattice cell could possibly be attributed to the short residence time in the sheep. Our results lead to the conclusion that lattice implants additively manufactured by selective laser melting enable better bone integration