scholarly journals Green Composites Based on PLA and Agricultural or Marine Waste Prepared by FDM

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1361
Author(s):  
Roberto Scaffaro ◽  
Andrea Maio ◽  
Emmanuel Fortunato Gulino ◽  
Giuseppe Alaimo ◽  
Marco Morreale
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Performance ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Posidonia Oceanica ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Green Composites ◽  
3D Printed ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Marine Waste ◽  
Natural Fillers

Three dimensional-printability of green composites is recently growing in importance and interest, especially in the view of feasibility to valorize agricultural and marine waste to attain green fillers capable of reducing bioplastic costs, without compromising their processability and performance from an environmental and mechanical standpoint. In this work, two lignocellulosic fillers, obtained from Opuntia ficus indica and Posidonia oceanica, were added to PLA and processed by FDM. Among the 3D printed biocomposites investigated, slight differences could be found in terms of PLA molecular weight and filler aspect ratio. It was shown that it is possible to replace up to 20% of bioplastic with low cost and ecofriendly natural fillers, without significantly modifying the processability and the mechanical performance of the neat matrix; at the same time, an increase of surface hydrophilicity was found, with possible positive influence on the biodegradability of such materials after disposal.

The Sparthan Three-Dimensional Printed Exo-Glove: A Preliminary Evaluation of Performance Via Case Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomás A. Georgiou ◽  
Davide Asnaghi ◽  
Alva Liang ◽  
Alice M. Agogino
Keyword(s):  
Light Intensity ◽  
Daily Living ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Preliminary Evaluation ◽  
Evaluation Of Performance ◽  
3D Printed ◽  
Hand Exoskeleton ◽  
And Performance

This paper describes the development and testing of a low-cost three-dimensional (3D) printed wearable hand exoskeleton to assist people with limited finger mobility and grip strength. The function of the presented orthosis is to support and enable light intensity activities of daily living and improve the ability to grasp and hold objects. The Sparthan Exoskeleton prototype utilizes a cable-driven design applied to individual digits with motors. The initial prototype is presented in this paper along with a preliminary evaluation of durability and performance efficacy.

scholarly journals A 3D Printed Modular Soft Gripper Integrated With Metamaterials for Conformal Grasping

2022 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charbel Tawk ◽  
Rahim Mutlu ◽  
Gursel Alici
Keyword(s):  
Contact Pressure ◽  
Fused Deposition Modeling ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Single Step ◽  
Positive Pressure ◽  
Pneumatic Actuators ◽  
Fused Deposition ◽  
3D Printed ◽  
And Performance

A single universal robotic gripper with the capacity to fulfill a wide variety of gripping and grasping tasks has always been desirable. A three-dimensional (3D) printed modular soft gripper with highly conformal soft fingers that are composed of positive pressure soft pneumatic actuators along with a mechanical metamaterial was developed. The fingers of the soft gripper along with the mechanical metamaterial, which integrates a soft auxetic structure and compliant ribs, was 3D printed in a single step, without requiring support material and postprocessing, using a low-cost and open-source fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printer that employs a commercially available thermoplastic poly (urethane) (TPU). The soft fingers of the gripper were optimized using finite element modeling (FEM). The FE simulations accurately predicted the behavior and performance of the fingers in terms of deformation and tip force. Also, FEM was used to predict the contact behavior of the mechanical metamaterial to prove that it highly decreases the contact pressure by increasing the contact area between the soft fingers and the grasped objects and thus proving its effectiveness in enhancing the grasping performance of the gripper. The contact pressure can be decreased by up to 8.5 times with the implementation of the mechanical metamaterial. The configuration of the highly conformal gripper can be easily modulated by changing the number of fingers attached to its base to tailor it for specific manipulation tasks. Two-dimensional (2D) and 3D grasping experiments were conducted to assess the grasping performance of the soft modular gripper and to prove that the inclusion of the metamaterial increases its conformability and reduces the out-of-plane deformations of the soft monolithic fingers upon grasping different objects and consequently, resulting in the gripper in three different configurations including two, three and four-finger configurations successfully grasping a wide variety of objects.

scholarly journals Preparation and Performance Evaluation of Duotone 3D-Printed Polyetheretherketone as Oral Prosthetic Materials: A Proof-of-Concept Study

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 1949
Author(s):  
Ling Ding ◽  
Wei Lu ◽  
Jiaqi Zhang ◽  
Chuncheng Yang ◽  
Guofeng Wu
Keyword(s):  
Titanium Dioxide ◽  
Performance Evaluation ◽  
Mechanical Performance ◽  
Mechanical Tests ◽  
Flexural Properties ◽  
Proof Of Concept ◽  
Tooth Color ◽  
Dental Application ◽  
3D Printed ◽  
And Performance

Literature has reported the successful use of 3D printed polyetheretherketone (PEEK) to fabricate human body implants and oral prostheses. However, the current 3D printed PEEK (brown color) cannot mimic the vivid color of oral tissues and thus cannot meet the esthetical need for dental application. Therefore, titanium dioxide (TiO2) and ferric oxide (Fe2O3) were incorporated into PEEK to prepare a series of tooth-color and gingival-color PEEK composites in this study. Through color measurements and mechanical tests, the color value and mechanical performance of the 3D printed PEEK composites were evaluated. In addition, duotone PEEK specimens were printed by a double nozzle with an interface between tooth-color and gingival-color parts. The mechanical performance of duotone PEEK with two different interfaces (horizontal and vertical) was investigated. With the addition of TiO2 and Fe2O3, the colors of 3D printed PEEK composites become closer to that of dental shade guides. 3D printed PEEK composites generally demonstrated superior tensile and flexural properties and hence have great potential in the dental application. In addition, duotone 3D printed PEEK with a horizontal interfacial orientation presented better mechanical performance than that with a vertical one.

scholarly journals Three-Dimensional Chipless RFID Tags: Fabrication through Additive Manufacturing

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (17) ◽  
pp. 4740
Author(s):  
Sergio Terranova ◽  
Filippo Costa ◽  
Giuliano Manara ◽  
Simone Genovesi
Keyword(s):  
Radio Frequency Identification ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Rfid Tags ◽  
Metallic Surfaces ◽  
Data Encoding ◽  
Chipless Rfid ◽  
Frequency Identification ◽  
3D Printed ◽  
Promising Solution

A new class of Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) tags, namely the three-dimensional (3D)-printed chipless RFID one, is proposed, and their performance is assessed. These tags can be realized by low-cost materials, inexpensive manufacturing processes and can be mounted on metallic surfaces. The tag consists of a solid dielectric cylinder, which externally appears as homogeneous. However, the information is hidden in the inner structure of the object, where voids are created to encrypt information in the object. The proposed chipless tag represents a promising solution for anti-counterfeiting or security applications, since it avoids an unwanted eavesdropping during the reading process or information retrieval from a visual inspection that may affect other chipless systems. The adopted data-encoding algorithm does not rely on On–Off or amplitude schemes that are commonly adopted in the chipless RFID implementations but it is based on the maximization of available states or the maximization of non-overlapping regions of uncertainty. The performance of such class of chipless RFID tags are finally assessed by measurements on real prototypes.

Prototyping and Simulated Analysis of Autonomous Swarm-Bots

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maulikkumar Dhameliya ◽  
Sidharth Sher ◽  
Souma Chowdhury
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Raspberry Pi ◽  
System A ◽  
Simulated Environment ◽  
3D Printed ◽  
Modular Platform ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Small Form Factor ◽  
Rate Of Success ◽  
Simulated Analysis

Teams of small (mm-to-cm scale) robots, often known as swarm-bots, can provide unique functionality owing to their small form factor, distributed sensing capabilities, resilience to disruptions and agent-loss, and likely low cost. Such swarm-bots are being increasingly touted to support various indoor surveillance, hazard detection, and search and rescue missions. This paper presents the conceptual design, fabrication, and testing of a new cm-scale wheeled swarm-bot. Simulated investigation of a simple particle-swarm-inspired approach to coordinated path planning for these swarm-bots is also presented. The swarm bot is developed around a modular platform, comprising snap-on (3D printed) structural components, a stepper-motor actuated wheel system, a Raspberry Pi computing node, a wireless radio module, a Lipo battery, and proximity sensors; all components are readily detachable, thereby allowing reconfiguration flexibility. Through three design generations, a stable prototype offering >20cm/s speed and ∼50 min endurance, was developed, assembled and tested. A virtual simulated environment is developed by combining MATLAB-based modules and a V-Rep environment, in order to simulate the coordinated operation of these swarm-bots. A 78% rate of success in completing target (light source) search missions was observed during the numerical experiments, and performance robustness was observed to improve with increasing swarm size.

scholarly journals Development of a Low-Cost EEG-Controlled Hand Exoskeleton 3D Printed on Textiles

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rommel S. Araujo ◽  
Camille R. Silva ◽  
Severino P. N. Netto ◽  
Edgard Morya ◽  
Fabricio L. Brasil
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Training Session ◽  
Life Quality ◽  
Motor Deficits ◽  
Stroke Survivors ◽  
Motor Rehabilitation ◽  
3D Printed ◽  
Hand Exoskeleton ◽  
Robotic Devices

Stroke survivors can be affected by motor deficits in the hand. Robotic equipment associated with brain–machine interfaces (BMI) may aid the motor rehabilitation of these patients. BMIs involving orthotic control by motor imagery practices have been successful in restoring stroke patients' movements. However, there is still little acceptance of the robotic devices available, either by patients and clinicians, mainly because of the high costs involved. Motivated by this context, this work aims to design and construct the Hand Exoskeleton for Rehabilitation Objectives (HERO) to recover extension and flexion movements of the fingers. A three-dimensional (3D) printing technique in association with textiles was used to produce a lightweight and wearable device. 3D-printed actuators have also been designed to reduce equipment costs. The actuator transforms the torque of DC motors into linear force transmitted by Bowden cables to move the fingers passively. The exoskeleton was controlled by neuroelectric signal—electroencephalography (EEG). Concept tests were performed to evaluate control performance. A healthy volunteer was submitted to a training session with the exoskeleton, according to the Graz-BCI protocol. Ergonomy was evaluated with a two-dimensional (2D) tracking software and correlation analysis. HERO can be compared to ordinary clothing. The weight over the hand was around 102 g. The participant was able to control the exoskeleton with a classification accuracy of 91.5%. HERO project resulted in a lightweight, simple, portable, ergonomic, and low-cost device. Its use is not restricted to a clinical setting. Thus, users will be able to execute motor training with the HERO at hospitals, rehabilitation clinics, and at home, increasing the rehabilitation intervention time. This may support motor rehabilitation and improve stroke survivors life quality.

scholarly journals An overview on 3D Printed Medicine

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 07-13
Author(s):  
Neha Thakur ◽  
Hari Murthy
Keyword(s):  
3D Printing ◽  
Fused Deposition Modeling ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Selective Laser Sintering ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Herbal Medicines ◽  
Fused Deposition ◽  
Digitally Controlled ◽  
3D Printed ◽  
Semi Solid

Three-dimensional printing (3DP) is a digitally-controlled additive manufacturing technique used for fast prototyping. This paper reviews various 3D printing techniques like Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Fused Deposition Modeling, (FDM), Semi-solid extrusion (SSE), Stereolithography (SLA), Thermal Inkjet (TIJ) Printing, and Binder jetting 3D Printing along with their application in the field of medicine. Normal medicines are based on the principle of “one-size-fits-all”. This is not true always, it is possible medicine used for curing one patient is giving some side effects to another. To overcome this drawback “3D Printed medicines” are developed. In this paper, 3D printed medicines forming different Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) are reviewed. Printed medicines are capable of only curing the diseases, not for the diagnosis. Nanomedicines have “theranostic” ability which combines therapeutic and diagnostic. Nanoparticles are used as the drug delivery system (DDS) to damaged cells’ specific locations. By the use of nanomedicine, the fast recovery of the disease is possible. The plant-based nanoparticles are used with herbal medicines which give low-cost and less toxic medication called nanobiomedicine. 4D and 5D printing technology for the medical field are also enlightened in this paper.

scholarly journals Design and characterization of a 3D-printed staggered herringbone mixer

BioTechniques ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vedika J Shenoy ◽  
Chelsea ER Edwards ◽  
Matthew E Helgeson ◽  
Megan T Valentine
Keyword(s):  
3D Printing ◽  
High Throughput ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Microfluidic Devices ◽  
Device Design ◽  
Replica Molding ◽  
3D Printed ◽  
And Performance ◽  
To Receive

3D printing holds potential as a faster, cheaper alternative compared with traditional photolithography for the fabrication of microfluidic devices by replica molding. However, the influence of printing resolution and quality on device design and performance has yet to receive detailed study. Here, we investigate the use of 3D-printed molds to create staggered herringbone mixers (SHMs) with feature sizes ranging from ∼100 to 500 μm. We provide guidelines for printer calibration to ensure accurate printing at these length scales and quantify the impacts of print variability on SHM performance. We show that SHMs produced by 3D printing generate well-mixed output streams across devices with variable heights and defects, demonstrating that 3D printing is suitable and advantageous for low-cost, high-throughput SHM manufacturing.

scholarly journals The use of extruded finite-element models as a novel alternative to tomography-based models: a case study using early mammal jaws

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (161) ◽  
pp. 20190674 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuria Melisa Morales-García ◽  
Thomas D. Burgess ◽  
Jennifer J. Hill ◽  
Pamela G. Gill ◽  
Emily J. Rayfield
Keyword(s):  
Finite Element ◽  
Mechanical Performance ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
3D Models ◽  
Stress And Strain ◽  
Finite Element Models ◽  
Average Width ◽  
Performance Results

Finite-element (FE) analysis has been used in palaeobiology to assess the mechanical performance of the jaw. It uses two types of models: tomography-based three-dimensional (3D) models (very accurate, not always accessible) and two-dimensional (2D) models (quick and easy to build, good for broad-scale studies, cannot obtain absolute stress and strain values). Here, we introduce extruded FE models, which provide fairly accurate mechanical performance results, while remaining low-cost, quick and easy to build. These are simplified 3D models built from lateral outlines of a relatively flat jaw and extruded to its average width. There are two types: extruded (flat mediolaterally) and enhanced extruded (accounts for width differences in the ascending ramus). Here, we compare mechanical performance values resulting from four types of FE models (i.e. tomography-based 3D, extruded, enhanced extruded and 2D) in Morganucodon and Kuehneotherium . In terms of absolute values, both types of extruded model perform well in comparison to the tomography-based 3D models, but enhanced extruded models perform better. In terms of overall patterns, all models produce similar results. Extruded FE models constitute a viable alternative to the use of tomography-based 3D models, particularly in relatively flat bones.

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