Single-step production of non-assembly mechanisms using additive manufacturing

Abstract

Non-assembly additive manufacturing is a manufacturing process that eliminates the need for assembly and joining, effectively saving time, costs, and processing whilst making it possible to create complex geometries. There are possible future applications for non-assembly mechanisms in several fields of engineering, such as expandable orthopedic implants in the biomedical industry, or weight- and volume saving constructions in the aerospace industry. While previous studies cover various aspects of additive manufacturing, design cri teria and redesign ideas for non-assembly additive manufacturing are yet to be explored thoroughly. Thus, this thesis delves into the subject through extensive research and literature studies, and a toolbox that provides these guidelines was cre ated. The study is specifically targeted toward the production of micro-mechanisms using powder bed fusion - laser beam technology. To achieve this, several questions were raised: What types of micro-mechanisms are possible to produce using addi tive manufacturing and how can these be optimized for the technology? What is the most intuitive way to present the findings of the report? The toolbox resulting from this study was built as an interactive HTML file to easily present the design criteria for each of the micro-mechanisms, along with examples of alternative designs. Lastly, prototyping in polymer with fused deposition modeling was conducted for proof of concept for the developed guidelines.