Advancing Additive Manufacturing Technology for Production

Abstract

In this master s thesis we consider three different areas of research in the advancement of AM technology for production environments: In the first we assembled and made a case for the use of a SLA/ DLP 3D-printer at our department, and concluded that the burn-in forces and peeling forces proved too large with this machine to produce parts of a functional size. Material characteristics were also developed for 3D-printed SLA/DLP and ABS materials: ABS is fracturing between 12% and 17% strain at stress between 38MPa and 40MPa. SLA/DLP fractures between 9% and 14% strain at stress between 42MPa and 61MPa. The stereolithographic method was in addition to this shown to produce very brittle materials with little yield at failure potentially making it difficult to use in functional parts. The second area considered for this thesis was the successful development of a analytic method to do model the LEFM failure modes to the included voids of FDM. A FEM analysis and simple experimental work was done to verify this model. Wecompare FDM and SLA/DLP in regards to topology optimization and conclude that the latter in most cases is better due to it s relatively isotropic properties. The third area considered for this thesis is the practical application of AM to enable rapid and low cost mold making for Laerdal Medical. A novel hybrid method of thermoforming and FDM were developed with success for use cases where the engineering accuracy is of less importance than the surface quality.