Additive
manufacturing (otherwise known as 3D printing technology) has been rapidly developed
in the past decades; its applications spread to almost every corner in our
lives, including aerospace, automotive, engineering, medicine, biological
systems, marine and etc. Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is one of common 3D
printing methods. However, when printing products with overhangs, support
structures are often needed, which leads to extended build time and post-process,
material waste, and sometimes collapsed part. A lot of research has been done
to reduce the support material used. However, all these work are focusing on
improving the support structures themselves. Little research has been on
eradicating support structures. In this project, a reconfigurable platform will
be created as the print bed in an effort to minimise and even get rid of
any support. The main objectives of this project are as follows:
Undergraduate
A reconfigurable platform as the print bed in an effort to minimise and even get rid of any support
Micro-processor programming; motion control
Lab allocations have not been finalised