3D Printing

Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing – the process of joining materials to make objects from 3D model data, usually layer upon layer, as opposed to conventional subtractive manufacturing technologies, is set to revolutionize manufacturing across a wide range of industries. The course 3D printing - AM technologies is designed to equip students with the fundamental knowledge of AM and basic hands-on experience in AM. The topics include various AM processes, their principles, capabilities and limitations, materials used for AM processes, powdered material fabrication and characterization, CAD designs for AM, alternative powder-based manufacturing technologies, current and future AM applications, as well as the mechanical evaluation of AM parts. The primary focus is placed on powder-based AM for metallic parts.

In addition to a series of lectures, project groups, each composed of 3-5 students, will create their own designs of the objects made of polymer PLA, formulate requirements in terms of geometry, dimensions, tolerances, mass, surface finish, functionality and mechanical properties of these objects, redesign them by making use of SolidWorks, print them, test and evaluate 3D printed products against the requirements, and document the projects in the form of reports and presentations. The new design is expected to reflect the distinctive features and freedom that AM has to offer (thin walls, lattice structures, form-free channels, integrated parts/functions, and customization), but within the capacity of the printing machines (bounding box size, minimum feature size or wall thickness). The report and presentation are expected to contain: reason for the selection of the object, weakness of the existing design, new design features, actual testing results and recommendations.