scholarly journals Smooth Design of 3D Self-Supporting Topologies Using Additive Manufacturing Filter and SEMDOT

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 238
Author(s):  
Yun-Fei Fu ◽  
Kazem Ghabraie ◽  
Bernard Rolfe ◽  
Yanan Wang ◽  
Louis N. S. Chiu

The smooth design of self-supporting topologies has attracted great attention in the design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) field as it cannot only enhance the manufacturability of optimized designs but can obtain light-weight designs that satisfy specific performance requirements. This paper integrates Langelaar’s AM filter into the Smooth-Edged Material Distribution for Optimizing Topology (SEMDOT) algorithm—a new element-based topology optimization method capable of forming smooth boundaries—to obtain print-ready designs without introducing post-processing methods for smoothing boundaries before fabrication and adding extra support structures during fabrication. The effects of different build orientations and critical overhang angles on self-supporting topologies are demonstrated by solving several compliance minimization (stiffness maximization) problems. In addition, a typical compliant mechanism design problem—the force inverter design—is solved to further demonstrate the effectiveness of the combination between SEMDOT and Langelaar’s AM filter.

Author(s):  
Jivtesh Khurana ◽  
Bradley Hanks ◽  
Mary Frecker

With growing interest in metal additive manufacturing, one area of interest for design for additive manufacturing is the ability to understand how part geometry combined with the manufacturing process will affect part performance. In addition, many researchers are pursuing design for additive manufacturing with the goal of generating designs for stiff and lightweight applications as opposed to tailored compliance. A compliant mechanism has unique advantages over traditional mechanisms but previously, complex 3D compliant mechanisms have been limited by manufacturability. Recent advances in additive manufacturing enable fabrication of more complex and 3D metal compliant mechanisms, an area of research that is relatively unexplored. In this paper, a design for additive manufacturing workflow is proposed that incorporates feedback to a designer on both the structural performance and manufacturability. Specifically, a cellular contact-aided compliant mechanism for energy absorption is used as a test problem. Insights gained from finite element simulations of the energy absorbed as well as the thermal history from an AM build simulation are used to further refine the design. Using the proposed workflow, several trends on the performance and manufacturability of the test problem are determined and used to redesign the compliant unit cell. When compared to a preliminary unit cell design, a redesigned unit cell showed decreased energy absorption capacity of only 7.8% while decreasing thermal distortion by 20%. The workflow presented provides a systematic approach to inform a designer about methods to redesign an AM part.


Author(s):  
Bradley Hanks ◽  
Mary Frecker

Abstract Additive manufacturing is a developing technology that enhances design freedom at multiple length scales, from the macroscale, or bulk geometry, to the mesoscale, such as lattice structures, and even down to tailored microstructure. At the mesoscale, lattice structures are often used to replace solid sections of material and are typically patterned after generic topologies. The mechanical properties and performance of generic unit cell topologies are being explored by many researchers but there is a lack of development of custom lattice structures, optimized for their application, with considerations for design for additive manufacturing. This work proposes a ground structure topology optimization method for systematic unit cell optimization. Two case studies are presented to demonstrate the approach. Case Study 1 results in a range of unit cell designs that transition from maximum thermal conductivity to minimization of compliance. Case Study 2 shows the opportunity for constitutive matching of the bulk lattice properties to a target constitutive matrix. Future work will include validation of unit cell modeling, testing of optimized solutions, and further development of the approach through expansion to 3D and refinement of objective, penalty, and constraint functions.


Author(s):  
Xiaobao Liu ◽  
Euihark Lee ◽  
Hae Chang Gea ◽  
Ping An Du

Energy based topology optimization method has been used in the design of compliant mechanisms for many years. Although many successful examples from the energy based topology optimization have been presented, optimized configurations of these designs are often very similar to their rigid linkage counterparts except using compliant joints in place of rigid links. It is obvious that these complaint joints will endure large deformations under the applied forces in order to perform the specified motions and the large deformation will produce high stress which is very undesirable in compliant mechanism design. In this paper, a strain based topology optimization method is proposed to avoid localized high deformation design which is one of the drawbacks using strain energy formulation. Therefore, instead of minimizing the strain energy for structural rigidity, a global effective strain functional is minimized in order to distribute the deformation within the entire mechanism while maximizing the structural rigidity. Furthermore, the physical programming method is adopted to accommodate both flexibility and rigidity design objectives. Comparisons of design examples from both the strain energy based topology optimization and the strain based method are presented and discussed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stijn Koppen ◽  
Emma Hoes ◽  
Matthijs Langelaar ◽  
Mary I. Frecker

Abstract Compliant mechanisms are crucial components in current and future high-precision applications. Topology optimization and additive manufacturing offer freedom to design complex compliant mechanisms that were impossible to realize using conventional manufacturing. Design for additive manufacturing constraints, such as the maximum overhang angle and minimum feature size, tend to drastically decrease the performance of topology optimized compliant mechanisms. It is observed that, among others, design for additive manufacturing constraints are only dominant in the flexure regions. Flexures are most sensitive to manufacturing errors, experience the highest stress levels and removal of support material carries the highest risk of failure. It is crucial to impose these constraints on the flexure regions, while in others part of the compliant mechanism design, these constraints can be relaxed. We propose to first design the global compliant mechanism layout in the full domain without imposing any design for additive manufacturing constraints. Subsequently we redesign selected refined local redesign domains with design for additive manufacturing constraints, whilst simultaneously considering the mechanism performance. The method is applied to a single-input-multi-output compliant mechanism case study, limiting the maximum overhang angle, introducing manufacturing robustness and limiting the maximum stress levels of a selected refined redesign domain. The high resolution local redesigns are detailed and accurate, without a large additional computational effort or decrease in mechanism performance. Thereto, the method proves widely applicable, computationally efficient and effective in its purpose.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1657-1666
Author(s):  
Joaquin Montero ◽  
Sebastian Weber ◽  
Christoph Petroll ◽  
Stefan Brenner ◽  
Matthias Bleckmann ◽  
...  

AbstractCommercially available metal Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) systems are steadily evolving. Thus, design limitations narrow and the diversity of achievable geometries widens. This progress leads researchers to create innovative benchmarks to understand the new system capabilities. Thereby, designers can update their knowledge base in design for additive manufacturing (DfAM). To date, there are plenty of geometrical benchmarks that seek to develop generic test artefacts. Still, they are often complex to measure, and the information they deliver may not be relevant to some designers. This article proposes a geometrical benchmarking approach for metal L-PBF systems based on the designer needs. Furthermore, Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) characteristics enhance the approach. A practical use-case is presented, consisting of developing, manufacturing, and measuring a meaningful and straightforward geometric test artefact. Moreover, optical measuring systems are used to create a tailored uncertainty map for benchmarking two different L-PBF systems.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 2571-2580
Author(s):  
Filip Valjak ◽  
Angelica Lindwall

AbstractThe advent of additive manufacturing (AM) in recent years have had a significant impact on the design process. Because of new manufacturing technology, a new area of research emerged – Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) with newly developed design support methods and tools. This paper looks into the current status of the field regarding the conceptual design of AM products, with the focus on how literature sources treat design heuristics and design principles in the context of DfAM. To answer the research question, a systematic literature review was conducted. The results are analysed, compared and discussed on three main points: the definition of the design heuristics and the design principles, level of support they provide, as well as where and how they are used inside the design process. The paper highlights the similarities and differences between design heuristics and design principles in the context of DfAM.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 2572
Author(s):  
Stefano Rosso ◽  
Federico Uriati ◽  
Luca Grigolato ◽  
Roberto Meneghello ◽  
Gianmaria Concheri ◽  
...  

Additive Manufacturing (AM) brought a revolution in parts design and production. It enables the possibility to obtain objects with complex geometries and to exploit structural optimization algorithms. Nevertheless, AM is far from being a mature technology and advances are still needed from different perspectives. Among these, the literature highlights the need of improving the frameworks that describe the design process and taking full advantage of the possibilities offered by AM. This work aims to propose a workflow for AM guiding the designer during the embodiment design phase, from the engineering requirements to the production of the final part. The main aspects are the optimization of the dimensions and the topology of the parts, to take into consideration functional and manufacturing requirements, and to validate the geometric model by computer-aided engineering software. Moreover, a case study dealing with the redesign of a piston rod is presented, in which the proposed workflow is adopted. Results show the effectiveness of the workflow when applied to cases in which structural optimization could bring an advantage in the design of a part and the pros and cons of the choices made during the design phases were highlighted.


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