Animal orthosis fabrication with additive manufacturing – a case study of custom orthosis for chicken

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wiktoria Maria Wojnarowska ◽  
Jakub Najowicz ◽  
Tomasz Piecuch ◽  
Michał Sochacki ◽  
Dawid Pijanka ◽  
...  

Purpose Chicken orthoses that cover the ankle joint area are not commercially available. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to fabricate a customised temporary Ankle–Foot Orthosis (AFO) for a chicken with a twisted ankle using computer-aided design (CAD) and three-dimensional (3D) printing. The secondary objective of the paper is to present the specific application of Additive Manufacturing (AM) in veterinary medicine. Design/methodology/approach The design process was based on multiple sketches, photos and measurements that were provided by the owner of the animal. The 3D model of the orthosis was made with Autodesk Fusion 360, while the prototype was fabricated using fused deposition modelling (FDM). Evaluation of the AFO was performed using the finite element method. Findings The work resulted in a functional 3D printed AFO for chicken. It was found that the orthosis made with AM provides satisfactory stiffen and a good fit. It was concluded that AM is suitable for custom bird AFO fabrication and, in some respects, is superior to traditional manufacturing methods. It was also concluded that the presented procedure can be applied in other veterinary cases and to other animal species and other parts of their body. AM provides veterinary with a powerful tool for the production of well-fitted and durable orthoses for animals. Research limitations/implications The study does not include the chicken's opinion on the comfort or fit of the manufactured AFO due to communication issues. Evaluation of the final prototype was done by the researchers and the animal owner. Originality/value No evidence was found in the literature on the use of AM for chicken orthosis, so this study is the first to describe such an application of AM. In addition, the study demonstrates the value of AM in veterinary medicine, especially in the production of devices such as orthoses.

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 857-863
Author(s):  
Fusong Yuan ◽  
Yao Sun ◽  
Lei Zhang ◽  
Yuchun Sun

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to establish a chair-side design and production method for a tooth-supported fixed implant guide and to evaluate its accuracy. Design/methodology/approach Three-dimensional (3D) data of the alveolar ridge, adjacent teeth and antagonistic teeth were acquired from models of the edentulous area of 30 patients. The implant guides were then constructed using self-developed computer-aided design software and chair-side fused deposition modelling 3D-printing and positioned on a dental model. A model scanner was used to acquire 3D data of the positioned implant guides, and the overall error was then evaluated. Findings The overall error was 0.599 ± 0.146 mm (n = 30). One-way ANOVA revealed no statistical differences among the 30 implant guides. The gap between the occlusal surface of the teeth covering and the tissue surface of the implant guide was measured. The maximum gap after positioning of the implant guide was 0.341 mm (mean, 0.179 ± 0.019 mm). The implanted axes of the printed implant guide and designed guide were compared in terms of overall, lateral and angular error, which were 0.104 ± 0.004 mm, 0.097 ± 0.003 mm, and 2.053° ± 0.017°, respectively. Originality/value The results of this study demonstrated that the accuracy of a new chair-side tooth-supported fixed implant guide can satisfy clinical requirements.


Author(s):  
N Hopkinson ◽  
P Dicknes

Rapid prototyping (RP) technologies that have emerged over the last 15 years are all based on the principle of creating three-dimensional geometries directly from computer aided design (CAD) by stacking two-dimensional profiles on top of each other. To date most RP parts are used for prototyping or tooling purposes; however, in future the majority may be produced as end-use products. The term ‘rapid manufacturing’ in this context uses RP technologies as processes for the production of end-use products. This paper reports findings from a cost analysis that was performed to compare a traditional manufacturing route (injection moulding) with layer manufacturing processes (stereolithography, fused deposition modelling and laser sintering) in terms of the unit cost for parts made in various quantities. The results show that, for some geometries, it is more economical to use layer manufacturing methods than it is to use traditional approaches for production in the thousands.


2013 ◽  
Vol 581 ◽  
pp. 292-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludmila Novakova-Marcincinova ◽  
Jozef Novak-Marcincin ◽  
Miroslav Janak

Rapid Prototyping (RP) can be defined as a group of techniques used to quickly fabricate a scale model of a part or assembly using three-dimensional computer aided design (CAD) data. What is commonly considered to be the first RP technique, Stereolithography, was developed by 3D Systems of Valencia, CA, USA. In this contribution are presented basic characteristics and problems in area of technology of Rapid Prototyping with use of Fused Deposition Modelling. It belongs to methods of precision model creation based on geometry obtained from CAD environment. Chapters are focused on optimization of FDM technology preparation process with aim of maximal precision of the parts. There also is algorithm that leads to selection of suitable settings for these problems. There are outputs in form of graph and tables accumulating information directly affecting precision aspects of manufacturing.


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 1136-1145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunbo Zhang ◽  
Tsz Ho Kwok

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to establish new computer-aided-design (CAD) framework to design custom product that is fabricated additive manufacturing (AM), which can produce complex three-dimensional (3D) object without additional tool or fixture. Additive manufacturing (AM) enables the fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) objects with complex shapes without additional tools and refixturing. However, it is difficult for user to use traditional computer-aided design tools to design custom products. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the authors presented a design system to help user design custom 3D printable products based on some reference freeform shapes. The user can define and edit styling curves on the reference model using the interactive geometric operations for styling curve. Incorporating with the reference models, these curves can be converted into 3D printable models through the fabrication interface. Findings The authors tested their system with four design applications including a hollow patterned bicycle helmet, a T-rex with skin frame structure, a face mask with Voronoi patterns and an AM-specific night dress with hollow patterns. Originality/value The executable prototype of the presented design framework used in the customization process is publicly available.


Additive Manufacturing termed by ASTM standard referred to in short as, the technology of fabricating a model based on creating a three-dimensional Computer-Aided Design structure. In the context of developing a product from digital data directly, widely involved various technologies. Amongst them, one being Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) which supervises the principle of AM, is widely known for developing a polymer-constructed sturdiest range of materials or parts are having operative mechanical properties. Even though, the main problem exaggerates that, the quality of the output still denies due to which void parts are created from bubbles trapped leading to failure of parts under mechanical stresses. Since with 15% infill, stronger parts are estimated and their mechanical properties are studied. Since the work signifies the influence of 15% infill on mechanical properties in estimating stronger products by layered addition process. The experimental methodology is based on structural infill parameters determining goal in achieving and studying material mechanical properties.


2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hu Qiao ◽  
Rong Mo ◽  
Ying Xiang

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to establish an adaptive assembly, to realize the adaptive changing of the models and to improve the flexibility and reliability of assembly change. For a three-dimensional (3D) computer-aided design (CAD) assembly in a changing process, there are two practical problems. One is delivering parameters’ information not smoothly. The other one is to easily destroy an assembly structure. Design/methodology/approach – The paper establishes associated parameters design structure matrix of related parts, and predicts possible propagation paths of the parameters. Based on the predicted path, structured storage is made for the affected parameters, tolerance range and the calculation relations. The study combines structured path information and all constrained assemblies to build the adaptive assembly, proposes an adaptive change algorithm for assembly changing and discusses the extendibility of the adaptive assembly. Findings – The approach would improve the flexibility and reliability of assembly change and be applied to different CAD platform. Practical implications – The examples illustrate the construction and adaptive behavior of the assembly and verify the feasibility and reasonability of the adaptive assembly in practical application. Originality/value – The adaptive assembly model proposed in the paper is an original method to assembly change. And compared with other methods, good results have been obtained.


Author(s):  
Neeraj Panhalkar ◽  
Ratnadeep Paul ◽  
Sam Anand

Additive manufacturing (AM) is widely used in aerospace, automobile, and medical industries for building highly accurate parts using a layer by layer approach. The stereolithography (STL) file is the standard file format used in AM machines and approximates the three-dimensional (3D) model of parts using planar triangles. However, as the STL file is an approximation of the actual computer aided design (CAD) surface, the geometric errors in the final manufactured parts are pronounced, particularly in those parts with highly curved surfaces. If the part is built with the minimum uniform layer thickness allowed by the AM machine, the manufactured part will typically have the best quality, but this will also result in a considerable increase in build time. Therefore, as a compromise, the part can be built with variable layer thicknesses, i.e., using an adaptive layering technique, which will reduce the part build time while still reducing the part errors and satisfying the geometric tolerance callouts on the part. This paper describes a new approach of determining the variable slices using a 3D k-d tree method. The paper validates the proposed k-d tree based adaptive layering approach for three test parts and documents the results by comparing the volumetric, cylindricity, sphericity, and profile errors obtained from this approach with those obtained using a uniform slicing method. Since current AM machines are incapable of handling adaptive slicing approach directly, a “pseudo” grouped adaptive layering approach is also proposed here. This “clustered slicing” technique will enable the fabrication of a part in bands of varying slice thicknesses with each band having clusters of uniform slice thicknesses. The proposed k-d tree based adaptive slicing approach along with clustered slicing has been validated with simulations of the test parts of different shapes.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mattia Mele ◽  
Michele Ricciarelli ◽  
Giampaolo Campana

Purpose Powder bed additive manufacturing processes are widespread due to their many technical and economic advantages. Nevertheless, the disposal of leftover powder poses a problem in terms of process sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to provide an alternative solution to recycle waste PA12 powder from HP multi jet fusion. In particular, the opportunity to use this material as a dispersion in three-dimensional (3D) printed clay is investigated. Design/methodology/approach A commercial fused deposition modelling printer was re-adapted to extrude a viscous paste composed of clay, PA12 and water. Once printed, parts were dried and then put in an oven to melt the polymer fraction. Four compositions with different PA12 concentration were studied. First, the extrudability of the paste was observed by testing different extrusion lengths. Then, the surface porosities were evaluated through microscopical observations of the manufactured parts. Finally, benchmarks with different geometries were digitalised via 3D scanning to analyse the dimensional alterations arising at each stage of the process. Findings Overall, the feasibility of the process is demonstrated. Extrusion tests revealed that the composition of the paste has a minor influence on the volumetric flow rate, exhibiting a better consistency in the case of long extrusions. The percentage of surface cavities was proportional to the polymer fraction contained in the mix. From dimensional analyses, it was possible to conclude that PA12 reduced the degree of shrinkage during the drying phase, while it increased dimensional alterations occurring in the melting phase. The results showed that the dimensional error measured on the z-axis was always higher than that of the XY plane. Practical implications The method proposed in this paper provides an alternative approach to reuse leftover powders from powder bed fusion processes via another additive manufacturing process. This offers an affordable and open-source solution to companies dealing with polymer powder bed fusion, allowing them to reduce their environmental impacts while expanding their production. Originality/value The paper presents an innovative additive manufacturing solution for powder reuse. Unlike the recycling methods in the body of literature, this solution does not require any intermediate transformation process, such as filament fabrication. Also, the cold material deposition enables the adoption of very inexpensive extrusion equipment. This preliminary study demonstrates the feasibility and the benefits of this process, paving the way for numerous future studies.


3D Printing ◽  
2017 ◽  
pp. 154-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rasheedat M. Mahamood ◽  
Esther T. Akinlabi

Laser additive manufacturing is an advanced manufacturing process for making prototypes as well as functional parts directly from the three dimensional (3D) Computer-Aided Design (CAD) model of the part and the parts are built up adding materials layer after layer, until the part is competed. Of all the additive manufacturing process, laser additive manufacturing is more favoured because of the advantages that laser offers. Laser is characterized by collimated linear beam that can be accurately controlled. This chapter brings to light, the various laser additive manufacturing technologies such as: - selective laser sintering and melting, stereolithography and laser metal deposition. Each of these laser additive manufacturing technologies are described with their merits and demerits as well as their areas of applications. Properties of some of the parts produced through these processes are also reviewed in this chapter.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 669-687 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sathies T. ◽  
Senthil P. ◽  
Anoop M.S.

Purpose Fabrication of customized products in low volume through conventional manufacturing incurs a high cost, longer processing time and huge material waste. Hence, the concept of additive manufacturing (AM) comes into existence and fused deposition modelling (FDM), is at the forefront of researches related to polymer-based additive manufacturing. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the research works carried on the applications of FDM. Design/methodology/approach In the present paper, an extensive review has been performed related to major application areas (such as a sensor, shielding, scaffolding, drug delivery devices, microfluidic devices, rapid tooling, four-dimensional printing, automotive and aerospace, prosthetics and orthosis, fashion and architecture) where FDM has been tested. Finally, a roadmap for future research work in the FDM application has been discussed. As an example for future research scope, a case study on the usage of FDM printed ABS-carbon black composite for solvent sensing is demonstrated. Findings The printability of composite filament through FDM enhanced its application range. Sensors developed using FDM incurs a low cost and produces a result comparable to those conventional techniques. EMI shielding manufactured by FDM is light and non-oxidative. Biodegradable and biocompatible scaffolds of complex shapes are possible to manufacture by FDM. Further, FDM enables the fabrication of on-demand and customized prosthetics and orthosis. Tooling time and cost involved in the manufacturing of low volume customized products are reduced by FDM based rapid tooling technique. Results of the solvent sensing case study indicate that three-dimensional printed conductive polymer composites can sense different solvents. The sensors with a lower thickness (0.6 mm) exhibit better sensitivity. Originality/value This paper outlines the capabilities of FDM and provides information to the user about the different applications possible with FDM.


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