WSEAS Transactions on Applied and Theoretical Mechanics
Print ISSN: 1991-8747, E-ISSN: 2224-3429
Volume 15, 2020
Design of Mechanism for Reducing Support Structures in Material Extrusion Additive Manufacturing
Authors: , , ,
Abstract: Material extrusion additive manufacturing is widely used in constructing 3D parts. Traditional 3D printers create support structures to build some portions of a model with overhangs that are not supported from below. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a mechanism that can reduce the use of support structures required during 3D printing. The robotic arm is made up of links that are connected with both prismatic and rotary joints. The end-effector of this manipulator resembles temporal support. It is used while building some portions of a model instead of printing support structures. To serve this goal, a mathematical model for the robotic arm based on Chasles-Mozzi theorem is introduced to avoid the limitations of Denavit-Hartenbrg convention. Finally, this paper will present the operation flowchart to be implemented in 3D printers’ software. In other words, predefined usage of the mechanism will help to estimate the amount of the material needed for printing the desired object. The ultimate objective behind employing a robotic arm in material extrusion additive manufacturing is to have a printer that produces clean prototypes, consume less material and reduce printing time.
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Pages: 157-164
DOI: 10.37394/232011.2020.15.18