Additive Manufacturing

Prof. J. Ramkumar

Department of Mechanical Engineering

IIT Kanpur

October 3, 2017
Outline

Introduction to Additive Manufacturing

Classification of Additive Manufacturing Systems

Introduction to Reverse Engineering

Additive Manufacturing

I Additive Manufacturing (AM) refers to a process by which

digital 3D design data is used to build up a component in
layers by depositing material.
I The term AM encompasses many technologies including
subsets like 3D Printing, Rapid Prototyping (RP), Direct
Digital Manufacturing (DDM), layered manufacturing and
additive fabrication.
I AM application is limitless. Early use of AM in the form of
Rapid Prototyping focused on preproduction visualization
models. More recently, AM is being used to fabricate end-use
products in aircraft, dental restorations, medical implants,
automobiles, and even fashion products.
Additive Manufacturing contd.
Basic structure of additive manufacturing and its
subcategories
Some Examples
Some Examples contd.
Some Examples contd.
Some Examples contd.
Additive vs Subtractive Manufacturing
Additive vs Subtractive Manufacturing contd.
Evolution of AM Technologies
Evolution of AM Technologies contd.
Current and Potential industries for Additive
Manufacturing
Pros and Cons of AM
AM Benefits: Weight Reduction
AM Benefits: Complexity for Free
AM Benefits: Customized Medical Products
Future: Home Manufacturing
Generic AM Process
Generic AM Process contd.
Data path for additive manufacturing
Generation of Geometrical Layer Information on Single
Layers

I To produce three-dimensional models by layer-oriented

additive manufacturing processes, the 3D CAD solid must be
mathematically split into the same layers as those produced
physically by the AM machine. This process is known as
”slicing.”
I There are two basic methods of doing this:
1) Triangulation, which leads to the STL format
2) Direct cutting in the CAD system, which leads to the CL
(SLI) format
STL format

I STL (STereoLithography) is a file format native to the

stereolithography CAD software.
I It is widely used for rapid prototyping, 3D printing and
computer-aided manufacturing.
I The main purpose of the STL file format is to encode the
surface geometry of a 3D object.
I It encodes this information using a simple concept called
”tessellation”.
Tessellation

I Tessellation is the process of tiling a surface with one or more

geometric shapes such that there are no overlaps or gaps.
I Tessellation can involve simple geometric shapes or very
complicated (and imaginative) shapes.
Valid vs. Invalid Tessellated Models
Exploiting tessellation to encode surface geometry
I The basic idea is to tessellate the 2 dimensional outer surface
of 3D models using tiny triangles (also called ”facets”) and
store information about the facets in a file.
I For example, if you have a simple 3D cube, this can be
covered by 12 triangles and 3D model of a sphere, then it can
be covered by many small triangles, as shown in the image
below.
Exploiting tessellation to encode surface geometry contd.
I Here is another example of a very complicated 3D shape
which has been tessellated with triangles.
How does an STL file store information about facets?
I The STL file format provides two different ways of storing
information about the triangular facets that tile the object
surface.
1) ASCII encoding
2) The binary encoding
I In both formats, the following information of each triangle is
stored:
1) The coordinates of the vertices.
2) The components of the unit normal vector to the triangle.
The normal vector should point outwards with respect to the
3D model.
The ASCII STL file format
I The ASCII STL file starts with the mandatory line:
solid < name >
I The file continues with information about the covering
triangles. Information about the vertices and the normal
vector is represented as follows:
facet normal nx ny nz
outer loop
vertex v1x v1y v1z
vertex v2x v2y v2z
vertex v3x v3y v3z
endloop
endfacet
I Here, n is the normal to the triangle and v1, v2 and v3 are the
vertices of the triangle.
I The file ends with the mandatory line:
endsolid < name >
The binary STL file format

I If the tessellation involves many small triangles, the ASCII

STL file can become huge. This is why a more compact
binary version exists.
I The binary STL file starts with a 80 character header.
UINT8[80] - Header
UINT32 - Number of triangles
I The information about the triangles follow subsequently. The
file simply ends after the last triangle.
foreach triangle
REAL32[3] - Normal vector
REAL32[3] - Vertex 1
REAL32[3] - Vertex 2
REAL32[3] - Vertex 3
UINT16 - Attribute byte count
end
Special rules for the STL format

I The STL specification has some special rules for tessellation

and for storing information.
I The vertex rule: The vertex rule states that each triangle
must share two vertices with its neighboring triangles.
Special rules for the STL format contd.
I The orientation rule: The orientation rule says that the
orientation of the facet (i.e. which way is ”in” the 3D object
and which way is ”out”) must be specified in two ways.

I The triangle sorting rule: The triangle sorting rule

recommends that the triangles appear in ascending z-value
order.
I The all positive octant rule: The all positive octant rule
says that the coordinates of the triangle vertices must all be
positive.
Optimizing an STL file for best 3D printing performance

I The STL file format approximates the surface of a CAD

model with triangles.
I The approximation is never perfect, and the facets introduce
coarseness to the model.
I It is therefore very important to find the right balance
between file size and print quality.
Advantages and Disadvantages of STL File Format
Classification of Additive Manufacturing Systems

I The Better way is to classify AM systems broadly by the

initial form of its material, all AM Systems can be easily
categorised into
1) Liquid Based
2) Solid Based
3) Powder Based
Classification of Additive Manufacturing Systems
Liquid Based Additive Manufacturing Systems

I Building material is in the liquid state.

I The following AM Systems fall into this category:
1) Stereolithography Apparatus(SLA)
2) PolyJet 3D printing
3) Multijet Printing(MJP)
4) Solid Object Ultravoilet-Laser Printer(SOUP)
5) Rapid Freeze Prototyping
I 1) and 4) are widely used method.
Solid Based Additive Manufacturing Systems

I Building material is in the Solid state (except powder).

I The solid form can include the shape in the forms of wire,
rolls, laminates and pellets.
I The following AM Systems fall into this category:
1) Fused deposition modeling (FDM)
2) Selective Deposition Lamination (SDL)
3) Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM)
4) Ultrasonic Consolidation
Powder Based Additive Manufacturing Systems

I Building material is Powder(grain like form).

I All Powder Based AM Systems employ the joining/binding
method.
I The following AM Systems fall into this category:
1) Selective Laser Sintering(SLS)
2) ColorJet Printing(CJP)
3) Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS)
4) Electron Beam Melting(EBM) etc.
Important Technologies of AM

I In the next few slides, we are going to discuss these three AM

technologies
1) Stereolithography Apparatus(SLA)
2) Fused deposition modeling (FDM)
3) Selective Laser Sintering(SLS)
Stereolithography

I One of the most important additive manufacturing

technologies currently available.
I The first ever commercial RP systems were resin-based
systems commonly called stereolithography or SLA.
I The resin is a liquid photosensitive polymer that cures or
hardens Stereolithography when exposed to ultraviolet
radiation.
I This technique involves the curing or solidification of a liquid
photosensitive polymer through the use of the irradiation light
source.
I The source supplies the energy that is needed to induce a
chemical reaction (curing reaction), bonding large no of small
molecules and forming a highly cross-linked polymer
Stereolithography contd.
Stereolithography contd.
Stereolithography contd.

I Facts About SLA

1) Each layer is 0.076 mm to 0.50 mm thick
2) Starting materials are liquid monomers
3) Polymerization occurs on exposure to UV light produced by
laser scanning beam
- Scanning speeds - 500 to 2500 mm/s
I Part Build Time in SLA
Time to complete a single layer :

Ai
Ti = + Td (1)
vD
where Ti = time to complete layer i; Ai = area of layer i; v =
average scanning speed of the laser beam at the surface; D =
diameter of the ”spot size”, assumed circular; and Td = delay
time between layers to reposition the worktable
Stereolithography contd.

I Time to build a part ranges from one hour for small parts of
simple geometry up to several dozen hours for complex parts
I SLA Build Cycle Time :
nl
X
Tc = Ti (2)
i=1

where Tc = STL build cycle time; and nl = number of layers

used to approximate the part
SLA 3D Printing Product
Fused deposition modeling

I Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), produced and developed

by Stratasys, USA.
I FDM uses a heating chamber to liquefy polymer that is fed
into the system as a filament.
I The filament is pushed into the chamber by a tractor wheel
arrangement and it is this pushing that generates the
extrusion pressure.
I The major strength of FDM is in the range of materials and
the effective mechanical properties of resulting parts made
using this technology.
I Parts made using FDM are amongst the strongest for any
polymerbased additive manufacturing process.
Fused deposition modeling contd.
Materials for FDM

I The most popular material is the ABSplus material, which can

be used on all current Stratasys FDM machines.
I Some machines also have an option for ABS blended with
Polycarbonate.
Materials for FDM contd.

I Note that FDM works best with polymers that are amorphous
in nature rather than the highly crystalline polymers.
I This is because the polymers that work best are those that are
extruded in a viscous paste rather than in a lower viscosity
form.
I As in amorphous polymers, there is no distinct melting point
and the material increasingly softens and viscosity lowers with
increasing temperature.
I The viscosity at which these amorphous polymers can be
extruded under pressure is high enough that their shape will be
largely maintained after extrusion, maintaining the extrusion
shape and enabling them to solidify quickly and easily.
Limitations of FDM

I Sharp features or corners not possible to get;

I Part strength is weak perpendicular to build axis;
I More area in slices requires longer build times;
I Temperature fluctuations during production could lead to
delamination
FDM 3D Printing Product
Selective Laser Sintering
Selective Laser Sintering contd.

I Layer thickness: nearly 0.1 mm thick;

I The part building takes place inside an enclosed chamber filled
with nitrogen gas to minimize oxidation and degradation of
the powdered material;
I The powder in the building platform is maintained at an
elevated temperature just below the melting point and/or
glass transition temperature of the powdered material;
I Infrared heaters are used to maintain an elevated temperature
around the part being formed;
I A focused CO2 laser beam is moved on the bed in such a way
that it thermally fuses the material to form the slice
cross-section;
I Surrounding powders remain loose and serve as support for
subsequent layers.
Advantages vs. disadvantages of SLS

I Advantages
1) A distinct advantage of the SLS process is that because it
is fully self-supporting
2) Parts possess high strength and stiffness
3) Good chemical resistance
4) Various finishing possibilities (e.g., metallization, stove
enameling, vibratory grinding, tub coloring, bonding, powder,
coating, flocking) 5) Complex parts with interior components,
channels, can be built without trapping the material inside.
6) Fastest additive manufacturing process
I Disadvantages
SLS printed parts have surface porosity. Such porosity can be
sealed by applying sealant such as cyanoacrylate.
SLS 3D Printing Product
Introduction to Reverse Engineering

I It is the processes of extracting knowledge or design

information from anything man-made and reproducing it or
reproducing anything based on the extracted information.
I The process often involves disassembling something (a
mechanical device, electronic component, computer program,
or biological, chemical, or organic matter) and analyzing its
components and workings in detail.
I Product of World War II.
Motivation for Reverse Engineering

I Interfacing: Reverse engineering can be used when a system

is required to interface to another system.
I Military or commercial espionage: Learning about an
enemy’s or competitor’s latest research by stealing or
capturing a prototype and dismantling it.
I Product security analysis: To examine how a product
works, what are specifications of its components, estimate
costs and identify potential patent infringement.
I Academic/learning purposes: Reverse engineering for
learning purposes may be to understand the key issues of an
unsuccessful design and subsequently improve the design.
I Saving money: when one finds out what a piece of
electronics is capable of, it can spare a user from purchase of
a separate product.
Reverse Engineering Process
I Prediction
What is the purpose of this product?
How does it work?
I Observation
How do you think it works?
How does it meet design objectives (overall)?
I Disassemble
How does it work?
How is it made?
How many parts and moving parts?
I Analyze
Carefully examine and analyze subsystems (i.e. structural,
mechanical, and electrical) and develop annotated sketches
that include measurements and notes on components, system
design, safety, and controls.
Reverse Engineering Process contd.

I Test
Carefully reassemble the product.
Operate the device and record observations about its
performance in terms of functionality (operational and
ergonomic) and projected durability.
I Documentation
Inferred design goals
Inferred constraints
Design (functionality, form (geometry), and materials)
Schematic diagrams
Lists (materials, components, critical components, flaws,
successes, etc.)
Identify any refinements that might enhance the products
usefulness.
Upgrades and changes
Reverse Engineering Process contd.
Example of Reverse Engineering
...........

Thank You