Hello Fakada,

 
Attached you find the contents of the course “Rapid Prototyping and Tooling” as defined by JU.
I feel that the major portions of Chap. 1 – 3 are covered in my lectures for the MSc students.
Thus, you will focus on the following concepts for the next session (Session 2) of this course.
 
1. Metal printing – overview of available technologies and processes, printable materials
and mechanical behavior characteristics of printed parts
2. Rapid tooling  (see the keywords in Chap 4 of the curriculum, attached file)
3. Data formats for exchange of design data to AM machines (see also Chap. 5 Software for
rapid prototyping , attached file)
 
Please search for relevant literature, get in-depth understanding of the listed concepts and prepare
presentation of no more than 2 and half hours.
Presentation will be on Friday, Oct. 7. You get separate invitation for your calendar.
Techniques Product characterized Advantages
SLM Substantial microstructural refinement, reduction production of complex shape
in phase segregation and extended solid solubility samples
due to the rapid melting and cooling rates.
Mechanical results in the 3 directions does not
have an anisotropic character.
MPBF The defects in powder recoating process include
irregular powder layer, and the defects in printing
process include spatter, balling phenomenon, gas
porosity, surface roughness, cracks, geometric
deformation, etc. 
Balling can reduce the tensile strength and fatigue
resistance of the 3d printed parts. 

Suppl Process Layer Creation Phase Change Materials

y Technique Type
phase
Stereo-lithography Liquid layer curing Photo- Photopolymers
polymerization (acrylates, epoxies,
colorable resins,
filled resins)
Solid-based curing Liquid layer curing Photo- Photopolymers
Liquid
and milling polymerization
Fused-deposition Extrusion of melted Solidification Polymers (ABS,
modeling polymer by cooling poly-acrylate, etc.),
wax, metals
 &ceramics with
hinder
Power Three-dimensional Layer of powder & No phase Ceramic, polymer &
printing binder droplet change metal powders with
deposition binder.
Selective laser Layer of power Laser driven Polymers, metals
sintering sintering with binder, metals,
melting & ceramics & sand with
solidification binder
Solid Laminated – Deposition of sheet No phase Paper, polymers
object material change
manufacturing

3 Errors due to Slicing

RP processes have a stair-
stepping problem that is found
in all layer manufacturing
technologies.
Stair – stepping is a
consequence of the addition of
material in layers. As a result of
this discrete
layering, the shape of the
original CAD models in the
build direction (z) is
approximated with
stair-steps. This type of error
is due to the working
principles of RP processes,
which can be
assessed in data preparation.
Mathematically, curves are
described with curvatures and a
curvature radius. In
engineering, a
curve can be replaced with
arcs that have common
tangent lines, curvatures and
concavity
directions at the same point.
Similarly, curves in a section of
a CAD model can be replaced
with
arcs. To assess the error of stair-
steps, arcs can also be used.
The error due to the
replacement of a circular arc
with stair-steps is illustrated
in Figure and
defined as:
Figure 1b:Error due to
replacement of arcs with stair-
steps.

ASCII STL

• An ASCII STL file begins with the line

• Solid name where name is an optional string (though if name is omitted there must still be a

space after solid). The file continues with any number of triangles, each represented as

follows:

• facet normal ninjnk

outer loop

vertex v1xv1yv1z

vertex v2xv2yv2z

vertex v3xv3yv3z

endloop
endfacet
endloop

endfacet

2. Overview of solid view in rapid prototyping

• SolidView/Pro RP is the most robust of the SolidView family of products and is

designed for companies doing their own rapid prototyping work. SolidView/Pro RP

offers all SolidView/Pro features as well as advanced rapid prototyping tools; compound

cutting, file repair, z-correction, shelling, offset, and automatic or manual object layout.

Optional CAD formats and network licenses are also available for SolidView/Pro RP.

• Just about anywhere you see a 2D engineering drawing, you can use the SolidView

family of products instead. By giving everyone involved in the product development and

support process a 3D view they can move, scale, rotate and measure, you increase their

understanding of the data and improve their productivity. The advantages of SolidView

over 2D drawings include:

• Users can view and measure the 3D data

• Valuable engineering time is not wasted on creating 2D drawings

• Users can directly view up-to-date CAD data instead of outdated 2D drawings

• Complex designs and assemblies can be viewed on a low-cost PC, saving plotting paper

and supplies and reducing the security risk of drawing disposal

2.1 Magics in rapid prototyping

• Materialise Mimics is image processing software for 3D design and modeling,

developed by Materialise NV, a Belgian company specialized in additive

manufacturing software and technology for medical, dental and additive manufacturing

industries.

• Materialise Mimics is used to create 3D surface models from stacks of 2D image data.

These 3D models can then be used for a variety of engineering applications. Mimics is an

acronym for Materialise Interactive Medical Image Control System.

• It is developed in an ISOenvironment with CE and FDA 510k premarket clearance.

Materialise Mimics is commercially available as part of the Materialise Mimics

Innovation Suite, which also contains 3-matic, a design and meshing software for

anatomical data. The current version is 20.0, it supports Windows 10, Windows

7, Vista and XP in x64.

• Materialise Mimics calculates surface 3D models from stacked image data such
as Computed Tomography (CT), Micro CT, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Confocal

Microscopy, X-ray and Ultrasound, through image segmentation. The ROI, selected in

the segmentation process is converted to a 3D surface model using an adapted marching

Figure 4: Shrinkage and laser beam sintering diameter (a – without compensation, b - after

shrinkage and offset compensation).

The normal procedure to determine the scaling factor a and offset value b consists of building a

test part and tabling measurements of it. From these measurements, values a and b are calculated

for the X and Y axes assuming linear shrinkage for the SLS process.

Figure 5:RapidSteel 2.0 calibration test part

For example, to calibrate the SLS process for the RapidSteel 2.0 material a test part to be build.

This test part has internal and external features in order to determine accurately the scaling

factors and the offset values. After building the test part, dimensions in X and Y directions are

measured.

One of the most important decisions to be made when employing any particular RP technology is

the selection of the part build orientation. This decision is a very important factor in minimising

build time and costs, and achieving optimal accuracy. When making this decision, designers and

RP machine operators should consider a number of different process specific constraints. This

may be quite a difficult and time-consuming task.

Each RP process has specific technological capabilities that have to be taken into account before

build direction is selected.

Choosing the best orientation is a multi-criteria task that involves trade-offs between maximising

the surface smoothness and accuracy of important features and minimising the build time and

cost.

3.7 Orientation constraints of the SL process

The following feature constraints should be considered in choosing candidate build orientations

for SL process.

 User specified critical surfaces: if these surfaces are planes, they have to be placed such that

their normal point in the build direction. In other words, they are horizontal and upward

facing. Cylinders, cones and surfaces of revolution are oriented so that their axes are vertical.

 Coordinate system: since a coordinate system is usually created by the designer and employed

whilst modelling, the orientation of the coordinate axes may represent the most logical build

direction. It is placed so that the z-axis points in the build direction.

 Holes: in order to avoid hard- to remove supports and stair-stepping inside holes, these are

placed orthogonally to horizontal planes.

 Cuts: if these curve through the part entirely or have a depth greater than a certain minimum,

the planes which they cut through placement planes are made horizontal. Otherwise, they are

ignored.

 Protrusions: if these are created by revolving a section, the axes are positioned so that they are

vertical.

 Shells: these are orientated so that the concave part of the shell faces upwards in order to

minimise internal supports. However, if the part is built on an older SL system employing the

deep-dip recoatsmethod; this orientation should be avoided as it would procedure a trapped

volume.

 Axes: all axes are placed so that they are vertical.

Surface digitization

Technologies used commercially for the measurement of the surface of objects with micro to

macro sizes (i.e. from some cm up to several meters) can be divided fundamentally into two

groups: systems based on laser scanning and systems based on white light projection. The

used equipment is different;however they are based on the same principle: triangulation.

Laser scanning systems employs lasers to project a spot, a line, multiple lines, or patterns

onto a surface, whereas a light sensor, usually a camera, acquires the scene. The three
elements laser, light sensor and object surface form a triangle. When the geometrical

disposition of the laser and the light sensor are known, the distance of the object surface to

the laser scanning device can be easily determined by triangulation. To measure surface

areas the laser spot, line, multiple lines or pattern have to move over the area (i.e. scan the

surface). For this process, different methods can be used, e.g. mirrors systems, electro-

mechanical systems, hand operated systems. 3D measurement systems based on white light

employ projectors instead of laser light sources, to project light patterns onto the surface.

The measurement principle remains the same: triangulation. A triangle is formed by

projector, camera and object. In this case, to cover entire surface parts, surface areas are

illuminated by the employed projector. Special codes are used to determine the origin of the

light source, e.g. binary codes, colour codes. The two different technologies result in various

surface scanning devices with different characteristics. Some examples are laser profilers

mounted on CMM, portable coded light projection surface digitizer, portable laser scanners,

hand held surface digitizers. An extensive description of the different solutions available in

the market will be given in the next section, followed by examples of applications in various

fields.

Applications of 3D surface digitization for the four major groups of users of this technology:

industrial measurements, cultural heritage, consumer industry and medical sciences.

=============================================================================

Softtooling can be used to inject

multiple wax or plastic parts
using
conventional injection-molding
techniques. Traditional hard-
toolingpatterns are fabricated
by
machining either tool steel or
aluminuminto the negative
shape of the desired component.
Steel
tools arevery expensive, yet
typically last indefinitely,
building millions ofparts in a
mass-
production environment.
Aluminum tools are
lessexpensive than steel,
although sometimes still
$10,000 or more, andare used
for lower production
quantities up to several
hundred thousand
parts.
Soft tooling produces short-
run production patterns
(anywherefrom 1 to 1,000
parts). Injected
wax patterns can be used to
producecastings as noted
earlier, or injected plastic
parts may be
used directly in given
applications. Soft tools can
usually be fabricated forten
times less than a
machined tool, as well
Softtooling can be used to inject multiple wax or plastic parts using

conventional injection-molding techniques. Traditional hard-toolingpatterns are fabricated by

machining either tool steel or aluminuminto the negative shape of the desired component. Steel

tools arevery expensive, yet typically last indefinitely, building millions ofparts in a mass-

production environment. Aluminum tools are lessexpensive than steel, although sometimes still

$10,000 or more, andare used for lower production quantities up to several hundred thousand

parts.

Soft tooling produces short-run production patterns (anywherefrom 1 to 1,000 parts). Injected

wax patterns can be used to producecastings as noted earlier, or injected plastic parts may be

used directly in given applications. Soft tools can usually be fabricated forten times less than a

machined tool, as well

Rapid tooling
o Process can create metal
tools directly from CAD files
using RP Technique.
o Rapid tooling is divided into
two types: Direct tooling, (ii)
Indirect tooling- secondary
process.
 In direct method, the
fabricated part by RP machine
itself is used as tool.
 In indirect method the part
fabricated by RP machine is
used as pattern in a secondary
process.
 The resulting part from the
secondary process is used as the
tool.
Rapid tooling

o Process can create metal tools directly from CAD files using RP Technique.
o Rapid tooling is divided into two types: Direct tooling, (ii) Indirect tooling- secondary

process.

 In direct method, the fabricated part by RP machine itself is used as tool.

 In indirect method the part fabricated by RP machine is used as pattern in a secondary

process.

 The resulting part from the secondary process is used as the tool.

3 Errors due to Slicing

RP processes have a stair-
stepping problem that is found
in all layer manufacturing
technologies.
Stair – stepping is a
consequence of the addition of
material in layers. As a result of
this discrete
layering, the shape of the
original CAD models in the
build direction (z) is
approximated with
stair-steps. This type of error
is due to the working
principles of RP processes,
which can be
assessed in data preparation.
Mathematically, curves are
described with curvatures and a
curvature radius. In
engineering, a
curve can be replaced with
arcs that have common
tangent lines, curvatures and
concavity
directions at the same point.
Similarly, curves in a section of
a CAD model can be replaced
with
arcs. To assess the error of stair-
steps, arcs can also be used.
The error due to the
replacement of a circular arc
with stair-steps is illustrated
in Figure and
defined as:
Figure 1b:Error due to
replacement of arcs with stair-
steps.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaa

Typical Defects of 3D Printed Metal Parts

The defects in MPBF process can be divided into the defects in powder recoating process and the
defects in printing process. The defects in powder recoating process include irregular powder
layer, and the defects in printing process include spatter, balling phenomenon, gas porosity,
surface roughness, cracks, geometric deformation, etc. In the following, the cause of different
defects is introduced, and the influence of different defects on the application of 3d printed parts
are summarized.

Spatter

Spatter is one of the most common defects in the MPBF process, which directly affect the
interaction between laser and powder bed, and lead to other defects. The results show that the
spatter is mainly caused by the lateral inert gasflow, the fluctuation of the molten pool and the
backflushing pressure. The spatter falling on the powder bed will redeposit larger metal particles,
resulting in incomplete fusion and gas porosity defects, which is unfavorable for the tensile
strength and fatigue properties of the parts. In addition, the spatter falling on the surface of the
solidified layer will affect the powder recoating of next layer, resulting in uneven powder in the
next layer, or even damage the recoater.
In order to prevent the metal powder bed from being contaminated by spatters, a high-speed inert
gasflow can be used to remove the spatters. However, excessive gasflow will affect the surface
quality of the powder layer. How to optimize the gasflow technology has become the direction of
continuous efforts of 3d printer manufacturers.

Balling Phenomenon

Balling phenomenon is a unique metallurgical defect in the manufacturing process of metal

powder bed fusion technology. This happens when the liquid metal solidifies into a sphere under
the action of surface tension. This phenomenon can be caused by both high and low energy
density of the laser beam. If the energy is too low, balling phenomenon will occur when the
metal powder is not completely melted. If the energy is too high, it will occur when liquid metal
splashes on the un-melted metal powder bed. Balling phenomenon will affect the powder quality
of the next layer, affect the surface quality of parts, but also lead to lack of fusion, slag and other
defects. Furthermore, balling can reduce the tensile strength and fatigue resistance of the 3d
printed parts. The effective way to reduce and avoid balling phenomenon is to optimize the
printing process and find the optimal parameter combination.
Gas Porosity

As one of the most important defects in the MPBF process, gas porosity is one of the most
important defects affecting the mechanical properties of 3d printed parts. In the MPBF process,
the rapid melting and solidification of the material and the violent fluctuation of the molten pool
will lead to the gas porosity. The size, quantity, shape and position of gas porosity all have an
important effect on the mechanical properties of the parts. The higher gas porosity will shorten
the fatigue life of the build parts, and the influence of gas porosity near the surface on the fatigue
properties of the build parts is greater than that of other positions. According to the formation
mechanism of gas porosity, they can be divided into raw material related gas porosity and gas
porosity caused by laser action.
The cause of gas porosity is very complicated and closely related to process parameters.
Reasonable printing process and continuous process optimization are still important conditions to
avoid the occurrence of gas porosity.

Surface Roughness

With the development of MPBF technology, the types of 3d printing materials are becoming
more and more abundant, and the mechanical properties of components have been greatly
improved. However, the relatively poor surface quality is still one of the major obstacles to the
development and industrial application of MPBF. The surface roughness of the middle layer will
affect the powder quality of the next layer, resulting in internal defects. The surface roughness of
the build surface will seriously affect the fatigue performance of the parts.
SEM and reconstructed images of the upper surface under different laser power

The surface quality is closely related to the fluidity of molten pool. By adjusting the laser power,
scanning speed, powder layer thickness and other process parameters, the surface quality can be
effectively improved. Post-treatment can also be used to improve the surface quality of parts, but
it will increase the cost and reduce the efficiency.
Cracks

Cracks in the MPBF process are related to temperature distribution, residual stress and
incomplete fusion. Cracks caused by residual stress can be divided into solidification cracks and
liquefaction cracks, which are related to materials. The solidification cracks are caused by the
large temperature gradient between the molten pool and the solidified metal, which leads to the
large deformation of the molten pool. However, the insufficient fluidity of the liquid cannot
supplement the deformation caused by the molten pool. The liquefaction crack appears in the
partial melting zone and is related to the liquefaction range, grain structure, thermal elongation,
shrinkage of metal material.
Crack inside a metal 3d printed turbine blade

In addition, incomplete fusion can also causes cracks, which has a fatal impact on the mechanical
behavior and fatigue life of 3d printed parts. Lack-of-fusion cracks usually occur between
adjacent scanning channels or between sedimentary layers, which are mainly caused by
incomplete melting of metal powder. If the cracks are serious, they may lead to delamination
defects.

Layer delamination defect

Geometric Deformation
Due to the geometrical features, heat accumulation, stress concentration and other reasons of
parts in MPBF process, geometric defects may be formed in different degrees. Small degree may
lead to deformation and dimensional error, and serious degree may lead to incomplete structure,
even failure of construction.
Bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
Mechanical Properties

The mechanical properties obtained with SLM and other AM manufacturing processes are widely studied by many

research groups in the world. In particular, the static loading capacity characterizations of SLM parts including

tensile strength, elongation and hardness are well understood and published. The foregoing properties are also

quantified by SLM machine vendors. Based on the available data sheets, published results, and the ongoing research

in our lab it can be concluded that mechanical properties of SLM parts are comparable to those bulk materials apart

from the ductility, which is lower in SL Mfabricated parts. Further details are found in [33]

However, mechanical properties of not only SLM parts but also others do not only depend on material composition,

but also on the microstructures obtained and the presence of defects in the final product that are determined by the

process parameters and manufacturing strategy [34]. Regarding the mechanical properties many issues remain to be

addressed among them are dynamic loading capacity (fatigue), properties at elevated temperature and the

correlation between the mechanical properties and the microstructure. In the following sub-section one of the

dynamic properties, impact toughness which measures the ability of a structural material to inhabit crack propagation,

is studied.