ENGD3120S Design for 3D Printing

Abheetha Saluwadana MSc, B.Tech, AMIMechE, AFIESL

Department of Mechanical Engineering
Skills College of Technology
 Module Content
• Introduction into Design for 3D Printing (lecture 1)

• CAD for 3D printing (lecture 2)

• Review of file formats for 3D printing (lecture 3)

• Structural optimisation for 3D printing (lectures 3-4)

• Review of additive manufacturing processes (lecture 5-6)

• Additive manufacturing materials (lecture 7)

• Design for FDM 3D printing (lecture 8)

• Lattice structures and metamaterials (lecture 9)

• Design for metal additive manufacturing (lecture 10)

• Revision (lecture 11)

• Coursework
• Final Exam
 • LO1 Demonstrate an understanding of the key concepts for 3D printing and
stages of development of the manufacture of a chosen product.

• LO2 Describe the specific process characteristics of various 3D printing

Learning technologies and identify their possible applications.

Outcomes • LO3 Apply the principles of 3D printing technologies to provide solutions for
fabrication of a design.

• LO4 Use modelling techniques and simulation tools appropriate to design

for 3D printing.
 Lecture - 1
• Introduction to 3D printing (AM)
– Concept, application and different processes
– Advantages of 3D printing
– AM constraints and considerations

• Design for 3D printing

– Introduction
– Intuitive design: Voronoi algorithm, lattices,..
– Design based on optimization: topology
optimization
– Case study: design of a brake pedal

• Summary and conclusion

Introduction to 3D
Printing
 Concept of 3D printing
(Additive Manufacturing, AM)
 Applications of 3D Printing
Aerospace Automotive Food industry

Biomedical Prosthetics and implants Building

Dental Fashion Defence

Different 3D Printing Processes
 Different 3D Printing Processes
Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) Stereolithography (SLA)

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) Selective Laser Melting (SLM)

 Different 3D Printing Processes
Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)
Material: polymer filament
 Different 3D Printing Processes
Stereolithography (SLA)
Material: polymer resin
 Different 3D Printing Processes
Selective Laser Sintering
(SLS)
Material: polymer powder
 Different 3D Printing Processes
Selective Laser Melting
(SLM)
Material: metal powder
 Advantages of 3D Printing
• Geometrical complexity not an issue
• Offers a significant degree of design freedom
 Advantages of 3D Printing
Customization
Additive Manufacturing
Constrains
and
Considerations
Support structure requirement
Part printed with SLA Support structures manually removed

FDM and SLA need support structure consideration

 Residual stress in SLM

1 2

1. Localised high temperature gradient: Around the laser spot, rapid heating of the upper
surface by the laser beam combined with the slow heat conduction gives rise to a steep
localised temperature variation.
2. Cooling phase and shrinking: The cool-down phase of the molten top layers also induces
residual stresses. The molten areas tend to shrink due to the thermal contraction. This
shrinkage is also inhibited by the underlying material and introduces tensile stress in the
added top layer and compressive stress below
Residual stress in SLM
 Modelling Residual Stress

Temperature Von Mises Stress [MPa]

σxxStress
35x Distortion Factor Total distortion (35x)

Distortion at the bottom for high

aspect geometry

Macro-scale Analysis of (5x5x10) mm cuboid - 250x0.04mm layers

 Support structure for SLM
Strategies for efficient use of supports:

• Reduce need for supports by reducing

residual stresses as part is built
– Better process control
– Scanning strategies etc.
• More material-efficient supports
– Same supporting capability
• More intelligent support
placement algorithms
– Which regions of geometry
actually need support?
• Design for non-removal
• Modify design
– Depends on application
– Is the post-processing
time worth it?
Introduction to design
for 3D Printing
Role of Design
▪ Processes are just enablers
▪ The real potential of AM comes from the Design & Implementation
areas
▪ Design possibilities unlocked by AM capabilities
▪ AM can print from lots of data sources
▪ scanning, CAD, MRI, CT
▪ We can print almost anything with little/no cost penalty
▪ Designers greatly restricted with traditional manufacture
▪ AM removes the cost of complexity
▪ However, current design tools not optimized for AM
Design freedom in 3D printing
• Less design constraints, more efficient design
Traditional design Optimised designs for 3D printing
Intuitive
design
Design implementing Voronoi
Pattern
 Case study: Hand Splint

- Traditional splints are not patient customised

- They are not optimised
 Case study: Hand Splint
3D scan of patient’s hand STL file generated from 3D scan of the hand

STL

Hand splint based on Voronoi pattern Surface covering the injured area

Voronoi
Case study: Hand Splint
Customised hand and finger splints
Lattices (cellular structures)
Lattices (cellular structures)
• Advantages of AM include
– Wide range of cell types
– Functional grading
– Ordered or stochastic lattices
– Combination with solid structures or skin
– Conformal to complex geometries
• Computational Challenges
– Computational cost of analysis
– Optimisation for functional grading
– Mapping of desired properties to lattice
parameters
• Manufacturing challenges
– Closed cells (powder systems)
– Support/stress/deformation
– Geometry dependent properties
• Applications
– High specific stiffness
– High surface area/functional surfaces
– Impact resistance
– Thermal management
 Functionally graded lattices

Functionally Graded Lattices

Stochastic (variable cell size) Tessellation (uniform cell size)

Strut Surface

Methods have been developed to generate either ordered or random

cellular structures that conform to an external geometry and are
functionally graded within the design space
Functionally graded lattices
 Functionally graded lattices

Custom density map

from any greyscale image
(2D or 3D) such as a density
based topology optimisation
 Functionally graded lattices
• Functional grading
– Cell size functional grading

c)
 Commercial software for lattices
Optimisation of lattice structures
Altair Optistruct lattice structure optimization feature for 3D Printing

Blended solid-lattice model

Optimum density distribution achieved using topology optimization

Sizing optimization phase

Design based on
optimization
 Topology optimization
Finding the best possible layout of a structure within a design domain
under a set of loads and boundary conditions, manufacturing and
design constraints.
Topology optimization
Topology optimization
14%
60%
48%

48% 54%

33%

63% 70%
Design for Manufacture
Topology optimization

Design optimization
Post-processed solution

Manufactured component
Topology optimization and lattices
Case study
Case study
Design and fabrication of a brake pedal for formula student race car
in De Montfort university

Formula student race car program in DMU An old design for the brake pedal
Design optimization of a brake pedal
Optimization objective:
Minimize compliance (strain energy)
Constraint: target volume = 15% of the design domain
Material: Ti-6Al-4V
Topology optimization using Iso-XFEM method

Generate STL

Symmetric structure, only half of the pedal was analysed Full pedal, after smoothing and adding all non-design regions
Design optimization of a brake pedal
Design optimization of a brake pedal
Some practical issues The pad is under random loads

The pad could experience a high residual stress

Design for multiple load cases?

Lattice design inside the pad?

Design optimization of a brake pedal
- To reduce the weight and residual stress, a lattice
structure was implemented inside the pad.
- Pad’s thickness increased to 4 mm
- BCC lattice, density = 0.2
- Solid skin thickness ≈ 1 mm

BCC unit cell

Design optimization of a brake pedal

Brake pedal manufactured through SLM process

Summary & Conclusion
Summary

Von Mises Stress [MPa]

Different 3D printing processes reviewed AM constrains and considerations reviewed

Intuitive design approaches were studied Design based on optimization was reviewed
Conclusion
- 3D printing (Additive Manufacturing) enables generation
of highly efficient functional/multifunctional parts.

- There is a need for design tools specifically developed

for AM.
Module assessment
➢ Unseen Examination 50%

➢ Coursework 50%
➢ 3D printed design ready for mechanical testing
on Wednesday 24 April
➢ Report submission deadline: Friday 3rd of May
2024
 Thank you !

Any Questions ?