No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Guidelines for AM Tooling Design
Abstract
We have, so far, mostly been talking about using AM for direct part production. However, many industries are now starting to use AM as a way of manufacturing the tooling for conventionally injection molded, cast, extruded, or sheet-metal parts. This means that the final parts are exactly the same as those that they would have previously made with conventional tooling, and only that the tooling, itself, was produced with AM. This makes it relatively easy for engineers to accept the technology, as the produced parts are identical (or better) to the parts they are used to.
... The true conformal cooling channels can be fabricated using Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology due to its ability to produce a highly complex part with reasonable production time and cost (Ford & Despeisse, 2016). A significant reduction of the cooling time is observed with the recent designs of conformal cooling channels with the novel topological designs including spiral (Wang et al., 2015), parallel (Diegel et al., 2019), zig-zag (Park & Pham, 2009), Voronoi , porous (Au & Yu, 2011), baffles (Park & Dang, 2010), and conformal porous structures (Tang et al., 2019). ...
During the injection molding process, the cooling process represents the largest portion of the cycle time. The effectiveness of the cooling system significantly affects the production efficiency and part quality, where it is limited by the conventional cooling channels manufactured by the drilling and casting process. Although the maturing advanced additive manufacturing (AM) technology allows the design and fabrication of complex conformal cooling channels, the temperature variance caused by non-uniform thickness distribution of the part remains unsolved. This issue is caused by the fact that the existing conformal cooling designs do not create the channels conformal to the part thickness distributions. In this work, a machine learning aided design method is proposed to generate cooling systems which conform not only to the part surface but also to the part thickness values. Three commonly used conformal cooling channel topologies including spiral, zig-zag, and porous are selected. A surrogate model is derived for each cooling channel topology to approximate the relationship between the design parameters of the cooling channels, part thickness, and the resulting part surface temperature. Based on the surrogate model, the design parameters of each type of cooling channels are optimized to minimize the part surface temperature variation. At the end of the paper, design cases are studied to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Based on the proposed method, much lower temperature variance and a smaller coolant pressure drop are achieved compared with the conventional conformal cooling design.
... In additive manufacturing technologies, material is added layer by layer to form a 3D geometry, based on a computer file. As resources in space might be scarce or difficult to find, AM technologies can be advantageous for reducing material waste and the possibility to manufacture intricate geometries (Gibson et al, 2014, Diegel et al., 2019. In Table 2, a comparison of different AM technologies and their evaluation in the context of a self-replicating probe is presented. ...
Self-replicating probes are spacecraft with the capacity to create copies of themselves. Self-replication would potentially allow for an exponential increase in the number of probes and thereby drastically improve the efficiency of space exploration. Despite this potential, self-replicating space probes have not been addressed in detail by the literature since the 1980s and it is still unclear how far they are feasible. In this paper, we propose a concept for a self-replicating probe for space exploration based on current and near-term technologies, with a focus on small spacecraft. The purpose is to demonstrate to what extent a self-replicating probe could be built in the near future. Furthermore, we identify technology gaps that are promising to address to develop the capabilities of such probes further. We conclude that small-scale self-replicating probes are feasible if components such as microchips and other complex electronic components are brought with the initial probe and are not replicated.
Additive manufacturing (AM), a quickly changing field, is reshaping industries by producing novel and customized materials quickly and efficiently. AM deviates from conventional subtractive processes by enabling layer-by-layer production of products with computer-aided design software. This process offers unique advantages for niche applications, such as metamaterial properties. Numerous industries have adopted this adaptable and aesthetically pleasing technology. For 3D printing, nylon, known for its strength, durability, and flexibility, has become the material of choice, especially when creating complex objects. Though it suffers from some difficulties, such as stretching and shrinking, as the most common AM method for nylon, material extrusion takes advantage of its superior mechanical properties and reliability. The processes, morphological traits, and mechanical properties of the AM of nylon and nylon composite materials are all covered in this thorough review, which methodically focuses on the body of current research. Tensile, flexural strength, and hardness are the main mechanical properties explored in this review, considering subtleties found in previous research. The paper ends with a research analysis viewpoint, pointing out managerial and theoretical gaps based on the body of literature and advocating for more studies to improve AM procedures. This succinct but comprehensive review offers insightful guidance on overcoming obstacles and leveraging advances in AM materials.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.