OPTIMIZATION OF MACHINE PARTS MODELS FOR 3D PRINTING

Abstract

When manufacturing machine parts using additive 3D technologies, we are faced with the task of choosing a specific manufacturing technology, material, and settings for 3D printing. These factors affect the manufacturing time, cost, accuracy, strength and other performance criteria of machine parts. The purpose of the study is thus to develop recommendations for optimizing models of machine parts for 3D printing. The study describes the main approaches to optimizing three-dimensional models of machine parts at the design stage. This optimization allows to avoid a number of problems that arise when using various 3D technologies: FDM (fused deposition modeling), SLA (laser stereolithography), etc. Depending on the type of the designed part and the applied additive 3D technology, additional requirements and restrictions are imposed on the models. The issues of optimizing models in terms of 3D printing time, manufacturing cost, geometry (accuracy) of the resulting model are considered, and the issues of the strength of the entire part or its individual elements are also partially investigated. Specific design solutions and recommendations for manufacturing rotation parts, in particular, shafts and gears, are given. The issues of occurrence of some defects associated with overheating, uneven cooling and plastic shrinkage are considered. The simplest models for studying strength of critical parts are described. Recommendations for determining the properties of machine parts manufactured using additive 3D technologies are developed. This study will be of interest primarily to the developers of 3D models and is aimed at eliminating some of the problems that arise during 3D printing at the product design stage.