Unit 45 assignment 2

Aligners and coke bottles

Aligners are dental appliances that are used to straighten crooked teeth by using gentle, consistent
pressure to put the teeth in the right position. To get the teeth into the desired position, several
aligner trays are needed. 3D scans of your teeth and jaw are used to create a set of aligners. Your
teeth feel a light pressure from each aligner tray. Your teeth's actual positions change and advance
as a result. You will switch to the next aligner tray after each smaller movement made by an aligner,
which will result in larger movements. This keeps happening until your teeth are properly aligned
and your smile is better. -Aligners

Are You Wondering If You Should Get Self-treated Clear Aligner Braces?
(southviewdentistrycharlotte.com)

Manufacturing aligners
Traditionally, individual casts of teeth moulds were used to create aligners. For each stage of
the treatment, orthodontists would manually modify these moulds, then plastic
thermoforming machine is used which would then create aligners for up to 48 moulds needed
for the treatment. Plastic thermoforming machine allows you to mould a sheet of plastic onto
an object while vacuuming the air out of the gap.
There are main two types of plastic thermoforming machines, for example vacuum forming
and pressure forming, vacuum forming uses heat and pressure to draw plastic sheets into its
final configuration. Once a sheet is heated and placed over a mould, a vacuum is used to
manipulate it into its desired shape and pressure forming the process of using air pressure on
a heated plastic sheet to form a mould or part that can have a lot of detail and texture is
known as pressure forming.
There are 6 steps that take place to make plastic products (aligners) using thermoforming. For
example, first we would make the sheet using any normal cast extrusion method, then we
would heat the sheet, then we would form the specific shape by stretching the sheet or any
other way of forming the shape required, and then we would cool the formed shape. Then we
could cut or trim the moulded sheet into individual units, and lastly you could print or
decorate as you wish.

Vacuum forming pros and cons

Pros
- Each unique vacuum formed piece can be produced relatively quickly, making it especially
useful for project
- Consistent
The vacuum forming process allows us to create consistent shapes and sizes across batches,
especially when using the same mould.
- Cheap:
The production cost of this method is lower than other types of production. Mould costs are
also lower, especially when using cheaper materials.
- Scalable:
Vacuum forming allows you to easily scale up or down your production and create new
components (or fewer components) as needed
- Recyclable:
Any excess plastic left after the vacuum forming process is complete can be recycled into
additional panels for use in future projects.
- Multipurpose:
The shape of the mould is highly customizable and can create different shapes of the product.
Prototype development:
Fast processes and low costs allow you to prototype your product quickly and efficiently.
Cons
- In some cases, extra costs may be required to finish components. This depends on what the
product is going to be used for
- When the product is scalable, you can only make a single part at a time, which takes time
and means that this process is better for smaller scale production.
- With this process, many products need to be simple, as complex designs can’t be
manufactured
- If there’s too much moisture getting into the product it can ruin the product by causing
unwanted bubbles.
-if parts are created with clear or light-coloured plastic, it becomes for debris from the mold
to show up in the final product
-if thicker material Is used it might wrap during the vacuum forming process, so it’s
important to stretch the plastic before using it
- If you don't make sure to create the right mould, your final product could come out with
flaws. If you don't catch any problems with your mould right away, it could mean that a lot of
your products will have problems.
Aligners 3d printed manufacturing process.
Firstly to print the aligner 3d the orthodontist will start by sending Align Technology
measurements for example the X-rays, and pictures of the patient's teeth then a 3D model will
be produced using the observations after being run through a computer programme. The teeth
on the computer-generated model are then adjusted to their final position by technicians.
SLA machine

To print the teeth 3d will use SLA process ,because its have been used many times before in
dentistry to create products, SLA will create the aligners by using The computer-designed
shape which is constructed by building up thin layers upon layers of resin using either light-
emitting diode or laser energy, then liquid resin is contained in a tank to create individual
layers that can be stacked to create aligners.
This stereolithography printed model Close-up view of layers printed using
three-dimensional stereolithography technology
from a digital scan will be used in the fabrication of a
dental prosthesis
Materials

The SLA printer uses thermoplastic to make the aligners there are around 7 types of matetails
in thermoplastic for example Acrylic, Nylon, Polypropylene, Teflon, Polycarbonate, Acetal
Homopolymer Polyoxymethylene, Acetal Copolymer Polyoxymethylene , Thermoplastic is any
plastic polymer substance that can be moulded which then can malleable at a specific
temperature before cooling and solidifying ,thermoplastic is really good material as it has
high levels of chemical resistance which make’s it a good choice for medical equipment and
other areas where protection from chemical exposure is required and it’s also reusable as it
can be remelted for future use.

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages
One benefit of stereolithography is its speed, functional parts can be produced in a day, The
amount of time needed to produce a single part depends on its size and design complexity,
Stereolithography printing can take anywhere from a few hours to over a day,
Stereolithography prototypes and designs are strong enough to be machined and can also
be used to create master patterns for injection moulding or other metal casting processes.
It has very Smooth Surface Finish as ,SLA printer uses UV laser or transparent LCD with a UV
lamp under it to form a layer image on resin tank, In this process the resolution of LCD or
Laser is very high so which means the final part surface is very smooth.
It is very Accurate as it applies very thin resin layers for producing models or components
with incredibly realistic details and you can use computer-guided lasers which creates
complex prototypes and models, which enable manufacturers and designers to identify
flaws early in the process so they can make appropriate adjustments, preventing costly
errors and redesigns.
It’s very sustainable as resin can be reused and the product that are being created, there
prototypes that reveal design flaws can be changed. And Materials that haven't yet
hardened can still be used to make new components or models.
It’s Possible to create multiple parts that can then be connected in a more complex
assembly By disassembling complex designs into individually adjustable component parts,
this capability also facilitates design changes.
It can use more materials than just plastic resins for example now it can be used to join
metals or ceramic powders,To create precise component parts, the process can take the
place of expensive and labour-intensive machining.
It is possible to create products with texture for example Depending on how the material is
layered and constructed, prototypes can be made from various types of resins or layered
according to computer instructions to create textured areas.
Disadvtages
The process is very expensive, The photo-curable resin can cost any where from $300 to
$800 per gallon, An SLA machine can cost from $100,000 to $400,000.

It’s fragile as resins are the equivalent materials used in stereolithography, The parts that are
obtained that way are more delicate than the finished ones, stereolithography does not,
however, allow parts that can be used for mechanical testing to be obtained.
It’s not suitable for mass production because it can only be used to produce three copies of a
part at a time.
It’s difficult to make parts with enclosed and hollow structures as its challenging because
liquid could become trapped inside the enclosed body while construction is taking place.
It’s not suitable for outdoor application as it uses a UV laser to cure the resin, because the
parts are photosensitive, so they are not suitable for outdoor use.
Justification
3D printing is better then the tradition method because Traditional method (Vacuum forming)
is time consuming and expensive for example the process needs moulds to be facilitated and
can sometimes cost thousands of dollars for a single mould and take months to prepare
compared to 3d(SLA) which doesn’t require the use of mold, because It involves adding
material to the printing bed layer by layer which can take up to few days or hours depending
the complexity of the product,3d printing is also much more sustainable due to wasting less
material compared to Traditional method(vaccum forming) which uses a lot of material
besuce something the products come out with flaws,3d printing I also better because you can
print complex designs without any additional cost for example in SLS the leftover unsintered
powder acts as self supporting material which makes extremely complex geometries possible
compared to Traditonal methode,in traditional methode you can not produce compled desighn
besuce it’s expensive and time consuming so from this infromatin we can see that 3d is better
for example for a company to Crete the prototype moulds in aluminium usually required a
lead time of up to two months in some cases, but with Stratasys' 3D printing solutions, the
entire process is finished in less than a week this is roughly savid 90% of our time.

Reference for Teeth aligners infromation

https://decisionsindentistry.com/article/stereolithography-future-dental-fabrication/
3 Ways 3D Printing Can Improve Manufacturing Efficiencies | Engineering.com

Stereolithography advantages and disadvantages (protolabs.com)

Guide to Stereolithography (SLA) 3D Printing: How Resin 3D Printers Work - YouTube

Plastic toys
Traditionally plastic toys are made out of injection moulding, Injection moulding is a
mass production method which can quickly and repeatedly produce large numbers of solid
plastic parts. Injection moulding is done by heating plastic material which is then injected
under pressure into a closed metal mould tool, Inside the mould tool, the molten plastic cools
and solidifies into the desired shape and The mould tool then opens to permit the removal of the
mouldings for inspection etc
There is 5 step process for injection moulding, first the shape is produces as a mould which is
then dived into two halves, then the moulding machines tightly clamps the two mould halves
together at the start of the the manufacturing process, then a hopper is used to load plastic
pellets then move through a heater and are transformed into molten plastic and then the molten
plastic is injected into a mould until it is entirely filled at which point it’s cooled and solidified
and lastly the finish item is ejected from the moulding machine after the two clamps are
separated.

Materials
ABS,Nylon,Hdpe,Ldpe,Pc,Pom,Pmma,Tpu,Tpr and PP.

Advantages
-It’s highly effective production for example once the moulds have been created, the process is
incredibly quick, with cycle times as low as 10 seconds, depending on the moulds you use, it is
excellent for medium and high-volume production.
-It’s very Repeatabilitso you can prodcuce numerous copies of the same products,when you
require parts with tight tolerances and high levels of dependability, this is the best option.

-It has wide range of materials,depending on the qualities your final part should have, you can
choose from a wide variety of plastic materials and you can also liquid silicone rubber moulding so
that you are not limited to using plastic.

-It has zero waste, when compared to numerous other manufacturing processes, the moulding
process generates a very small amount of waste,even if there is any leftover or waste plastic, it can
be recycled and used again.

-It’s highly detailed because Under extremely high pressure the molten plastic is injected into the
mould during the procedure which forces the plastic firmly against the moulds which then enables
the creation of intricate and complex shapes with lots of detail.

-It has very minimal to none post-processing because the parts typically have good aesthetic post-
production so you will typically need very little post-production so we can create the tooling with a
unique finish that will be immediately visible on the moulded part. Even better, you can have your
text or logo engraved on it.

Disadvantages
-It’s Initial expenses are high because the injection moulded part requires custom tooling, there are
high initial start-up costs, making low-volume production runs uneconomical. In contrast, creating
large, complex moulds ready for full-scale production can cost several times that amount.

-Changing the design is very expensive because if you want to change a design you are likely need to
create a new mold from scratch, which means pouring more time and money into your project.

-It’s time consuming because it takes 5-7 weeks to manufacture tooling and 2-4 weeks to produce
and ship the parts.

-You can’t produce large Toys or parts because the production of plastic injection mouldings requires
enormous machines which Makes it hard to produce large part because it becomes very expensive
due to needing enormous mould tool.

3D (FDM)

FDM works by extruding thermoplastics, such as ABS or PLA, through a heated nozzle,
melting the material, and applying the plastic layer by layer to a build platform. Initially, you
will have to use CAD or another software to design a toy because FDM works with digital
design files that are uploaded to the machine and then they are converted into physical
dimensions. Polymers like ABS, PLA, PETG, and PEI are used in FDM, and the machine
feeds them as threads through a heated nozzle. To use an FDM machine, first you will have
to insert a spool of thermoplastic filament into the printer. The printer then feeds the filament
through an extrusion head and nozzle once the nozzle reaches the desired temperature. The
extrusion head is connected to a three-axis system, allowing it to move along the X, Y, and Z
axes, so the printer extrudes the melted material in thin strands and deposits it layer by layer
along a design path. The material cools and solidifies after it is deposited, but in some cases,
fans can be attached to the extrusion head to speed up cooling, and multiple passes are
required to fill an area. Similar to coloring in a shape with a marker, When a layer is
completed, the build platform descends and the machine moves on to the next layer. In some
machine configurations, the extrusion head moves upward. This process is repeated until the
part is completed.

Advantages

-It’s affordable you can get one with all the essential requirement for less then £200.

-Its Filament is resuable because most filaments in FDM printers are plastic-based so they can be
reused and they can be easily reshaped into filament shapes by heating and straightening them.

-It’s very easy to use because all the steps like designing, slicing, printing, post-curing, and so on, are
very simple

-It has several types of printing filament available. More than 9 filament options are available for use
as fodder in FDM printing.

-It can be moved to different places easily as its components are easily detachable which makes it
very handy and easily movable from one place to another without any hassle
-It’s not time consuming as you can 3D print a complete part in a matter of minutes or hours,
reducing lead times and speeding up the prototyping process.

-FDM printers can also print larger objects, and their easily scalable design means a low cost-to-size
ratio.

Disadvantages

-It uses thick layer height which means it’s not unsuitable for parts with fine details, it also means
that finished products will probably have rough surfaces and need additional post-processing to be
smoother

-It can easily broke because FDM printers typically place filaments in one direction, the resulting
prints are anisotropic and prone to breaking, particularly where the layers meet FDM parts which
means that they can easily break when subjected to compressive forces parallel to their layers.

- Unstable quality. The layer thickness is not strong, which means the mechanical properties of FDM
printed parts are unstable and durability cannot be guaranteed

-Frequently nozzle clogging

-Difficult to produce small diameter filament

-Low waterproofness

Justification

FDM is better than injection molding because injection molding is really expensive because first you
will have to print a prototype and then design an injection mold tool, which is very expensive
compared to FDM. In FDM, you must first design the prototype part. This is the initial and final step.
After you have the prototype design, you simply press print, and your part appears several minutes
to hours later, depending on the complexity. FDM is low in cost as it’s only £200 compared to
injection molding, which can cost up to £100,000 if you want to design complex designs.