Introduction To 3D Printing

3D printing is the process of making a physical model from a three dimensional digital one. The model is being made by adding layer over layer of a material called, “raisin”. The purpose of 3D printing is to make a model in the most efficient way possible with minimal material used. And the best part of 3D printing is that the final product is sturdy and strong

We were told to have a test on the design rules for the 3D printer to understand its limitations. My group did bridging, overhang, infill density and tolerance for the test

These are the results of our test

    I worked on overhang, whereby the 3D printer will have to print a strip with various different angles, fortunately the printing was successful although at 85 degrees the bottom of the strip is not printed properly

    The tolerance test went really well, the model itself showed us the accuracy of the printing process and the optima clearance between the moving parts

  • The model doesn’t test tolerance of first layer since it’s more prone to being squashed against the bed and always has ample clearance on the first layer
  • The model has cylinders with an overhang at 45%, this helps prevent the Centers from falling out
  • Clearances are measured horizontally on the axis parallel to the printed layers, hence the overhang sections are lower but the horizontal clearance is all that matters
  • During the printing process, it’s possible to release 0.2mm instead of 0.15mm clearance

    • The bridging test was difficult at first and it took my group 2 tries to get it right

  • Our first attempt didn’t went well because we set the printing speed to 100 and aimed to finish printing it by 1 hour. However it failed, and the bridge barely came out since the base wasn’t even printed properly
  • Our second attempt we decided to change some settings including the speed and sure enough it printed out properly as seen

    • Lastly the infill density test went well, the only thing we had to lookout for when printing it is that we have to abort the printing at 70% or else it will cover up the infill, not revealing the inside

For the individual assignment I decided to 3D print a sphere inside a triangle because it’s my favourite shape

I wanted to design the triangle in a form of a pyramid, but decided against it since the printing may take quite awhile. Hence I concluded with a 2 sided triangle and rectangle form. The main difficulty for this project for me is positioning the sphere in the center of the triangle form. But eventually I managed to do it. Best part is that the printing went smoothly