STUDY HELP

LaPonsie 1

MEMORANDUM

To: Team A From: Christopher Laponsie Date: July 26, 2021 RE: Proposal for Rapid Prototyping Study

Purpose Additional research is ineeded in the area of rapid prototyping and additive manufacturing. As Shahrubudin et al. (2019) explains,“3D printing technology is a truly innovative and has emerged as a versatile technology stage” (p. 1). The purpose of this proposal is to gain greater insight and knowledge about the various technologies and materials available to manufacturers for prototyping. The deliverable for this study will be a recomendation report which will give highlight the pros and cons of different 3D printing technologies and their corresponding materials.

Introduction Prototyping can be expensive. In engineering, it is common to go through multiple revisions of a prototype before bringing a part to production. As such, it is important for companies to have access to fast and affordable prototyping. Many manufacturers have a machine shop in-house or have access to one. Machine shops are not cost-effective for prototyping. For instance, aluminum is a common material found in machine shops. At the time of this writing, a 6”x6”x4” aluminum block was for sale for $148.44 (McMaster-Carr, 2021). Consider the cost printing a solid black with PLA on an FDM printer. This block is approximately 2360 cubic centimeters. PLA has a density of 1.24g/cm3 (Torres et al., 2015). Therefor, this same block made with PLA would be approximately 2.93kg. Represents a cost of approximately $52.71 if using PLA listed on Amazon at $17.99 per kg (Amazon, 2021) and assuming no waste. In addition to material cost, there is also the difference of labor cost. As Lynch and Biron (2015) note, machine shops require skill and training to operate, but a 3D printer can be operated by anyone with a little practice (p. 232).

The purpose of the research proposal is to explore and identify additive manufacturing equipment for rapid prototyping. Multiple technologies will be explored along with inherent pros and cons of each technology. Multiple brands will be explored. A variety of price points will be examined.

The background for this proposal stems from the experience of this author. Prototyping is often a lower priority for machine shops that are already busy keeping up with parts needed for production. As a result, waiting for a prototype to get back from the machine shop can not only be expensive, but it can also be time consuming. Further, third party 3D printing services can suffer from the same problem, especially with the added expense of shipping. Going through muiltiple iterations of prototyping with a 3D printer before going to the machine shop for production is valuable for business.

The sources for this study will be recent scholarly articles and journals. This industry is always evolving so it is import to get recent, up-to-date information. Machine specifications and datasheets will be retrieved from the manufacturers of the equipment.

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The scope of the research proposal is to only evaluate additive manufacturing equipment for rapid prototyping. Subtractive manufacturing will not be considered (CNC mills, laser cutters, plasma cutters, etc.). These manufacturing methods tend to create excess waste material which is not conducive to affordable prototyping.

Although this is considered workplace research rather than academic research, we will make ample use of secondary research as we search for the most recent information on additive manufacturing techniques and the newest models of equipment. Any information gathered from a documents already existing rather than through experimentation is considered secondary research (Markel, 2020). Fortunately, enough primary research has already been performed on the properties of various engineering grade 3D printing filaments, resins, and powders.

Finally, some key terms that will be used are industry acronyms such as FDM, SLA, SLS, and PLA. Various materials will be judged based on their physical properties, such as tensile strength, impact strength, glass transition temperature, and cost. Equipment will be judged based resolution, tolerance, and speed.

Research Questions The questions being addressed in this study will be based around the idea that various applications will have very different engineering constraints and requirements. While resolution and tolerances may be the most important qualities for one application, tensile strength may be the most important quality for another.

These are the questions the study will seek answer: • Which technology is best for impact strength? • Which technology is best for tensile strength? • Which technology offers the best resolution and tolerances? • Which technology is the most cost-effective? • Which technology is best for general purpose applications?

Experience As an Engineering Technician at Tengam Engineering, I helped source a 3d printer and was tasked with bringing prototypes to life. I modified the 3D printer with an enclosure and heater to be able to print engineering grade filaments like polycarbonate and glass-filled nylon. I have used all of the major slicer programs available today to turn 3D models into reality.

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References

Amazon. (2021). ECBEARS PLA 3D Printer Filament 1.75mm Black, Dimensional Accuracy

+/- 0.02 mm, 1 Kg Spool, Pack of 1. https://www.amazon.com/Filament-TECBEARS-

Printing-Dimensional-No-Tangle/dp/B0817W1CLN/.

Lynch, D., & Biron, D. (2015). A primer on prototyping. Methods in Molecular Biology, 231–

240. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2842-2_17

Markel, M. (2020). Practical strategies for technical communication with 2020 Apa Update: A

brief guide. Bedford Books St. Martin's.

McMaster-Carr. (2021). Easy-to-Machine MIC6 Cast Aluminum Sheets and Bars.

https://www.mcmaster.com/flat-bars/easy-to-machine-mic6-cast-aluminum-sheets-and-

bars/.

Shahrubudin, N., Lee, T. C., & Ramlan, R. (2019). An overview on 3d printing technology:

Technological, materials, and applications. Procedia Manufacturing, 35, 1286–1296.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.promfg.2019.06.089

Torres, J., Cotelo, J., Karl, J., & Gordon, A. P. (2015). Mechanical property optimization of fdm

pla in shear with multiple objectives. JOM, 67(5), 1183–1193.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-015-1367-y

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