Session: 03-02 Metals: Design for AM - Industrial Applications

Paper Number: 93942

93942 - Design for Additive Manufacturing (Dfam) Education: A Case Study on Fluidic Channels via Metal Additive Manufacturing 

Engineering design is universally dictated by the manufacturing constraints of the process under consideration. During the 20th century, engineering design education was dictated by the subtractive manufacturing processes. However, with the advent of Additive Manufacturing (AM) in the 21st century, traditional design methodologies have become obsolete for fully leveraging AM capabilities. Metal AM specifically presents a number of new opportunities to realize rapid manufacturing of lightweight, optimized and functional components across different application domains: aerospace, biomedical, defense, and industrial applications. However, there is a critical challenge in establishing a Design for AM (DfAM) workflow for these challenging geometries with multiple constraints (e.g., AM manufacturability, hydraulic diameters, structural optimization) without the need for multiple costly design iterations. This warrants a systematic change in engineering design education that incorporates Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) principle in undergraduate and graduate level design courses.  In this paper, we present a novel design education case-study where we incorporate DfAM principles for design of components via metal AM. This was demonstrated via a web-based design challenge presented to students in a week-long Master’s level course at another University (Penn State University). Here students were given an open-ended brief to design a robotic end effector that would enable the picking and placing of ping pong balls. The design process included the design of internal flow channels, a vacuum generating mechanism and mounting fixtures. The robotic end effector was inspired by a commercially available end-effector that is an assembly of 53 components. The students consolidated all components of the end-effector into one metal AM component (98.11% reduction in number of parts). Moreover, the end-effector could be seamlessly integrated with a robotic arm capable of lifting the payload. The end-effector was analytically designed and modelled using a commercially available software (Sulis by Gen3D, Bath, UK).  This case study resulted in multiple end-effector designs that were then additively manufactured at Penn State University (USA). The components were manufactured via Laser-Powder Bed Fusion (PROX DMP 320) using Ti64Al4V alloy. Finally, the end-effectors were finish machined and tested at the University of Bath (UK) in a single design to manufacture workflow. The outcomes demonstrated that complex DfAM for custom low volume production can be realized in a compressed time frame by implementation of DfAM principles. Moreover, this study serves as a novel example of the how DfAM principles can be integrated into design education, specifically for internal flow channels. We further demonstrated the universal educational benefits of this collaborative work by bringing together different research-focused entities and industrial partners across continents. Future work will involve the incorporation of DfAM principles in engineering mechanics classrooms. Incorporating Mechanical properties of Metal AM components into the design process will lead to more robust engineering design of functional metal AM components.

Presenting Author: Vimal Dhokia University of Bath

Presenting Author Biography: Reader in Design Engineering at University of Bath<br/>Research focus: Digital Manufacturing with a core focus on AM. Applications areas include, healthcare, aerospace and sports.

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