Material Jetting: Exploration on mixtures of solid and liquid for shock absorption

This research project delves into the potentials of material jetting printing through an exploration of voxel printing techniques that integrate solids and liquids. The focus centers on assessing the shock absorption (SA) capabilities of diverse samples incorporating varying materials and printing patterns. The key materials employed in this...

Additive manufacturing of a self-healing thermoplastic polyurethane

Additive manufacturing of smart polymers is a rapidly growing field. Additive manufacturing presents a versatile, low-waste manufacturing method for functional materials. Self-healing polymers are a type of smart polymers that are able to mend damage, either by the incorporation of an encapsulated healing agent or by intrinsic polymer design....

The effect of nodal topology on cellular solid mechanics: A preliminary diagnostic experimental investigation

Additive manufacturing allows material structuring, supporting the fabrication of multiple-level structures or metamaterials. Through the lens of classical stress reduction, nature’s cellular solid structures feature stress-homogenizing nodal topologies. Avian long bones are an example. Research into the mechanics of open cell cellular solids...

Utilising additive manufacturing techniques to simplify the accordion production process

This thesis focuses on the utilisation of additive manufacturing (AM) technologies for the production of accordions. The goal is to reduce the man hours required in the production and repair of the instrument. The client, Pigini Nederland, currently produces a small accordion for children and adults: the MiniMouse. This instrument is sold for...

Prosthetic Socket Design for Fused Deposition Modeling

This graduation project was started on the observation that most orthopaedic companies seem to be still far away from producing 3D printed sockets for customers. Research into manual and digital manufacturing methods resulted in an overview of the possibilities for integrating digital tools into the socket production process. Together with the...

Energy Absorption of Additively Manufactured Lattices: On biomimetic abstraction of structural principles toward increased energy absorption in lattice structures

Cellular solids are characteristically excellent energy absorbers due to their capacity to store large amounts of energy through compression. A bioinspired design approach identified the Pomelo fruit (Citrus Maximus) as a biological role model for energy absorption. Fruit peels’ biologically most important functions lies in the need to provide...

The Real-time City: life in a fully adaptable environment

The Real-time City is a city on demand, shaped by customization over time. Inhabitants can shape the content of the city and their personal spaces according to their desires. As situations are continuously changing, the city has to update itself in real-time; analysing the given input, applying parameters and act upon these changing situations....

Towards Topology Optimization for constructing Compliant Optical Mount Mechanisms by means of Additive Manufacturing

Optical systems in high precision equipment become increasingly more complex due to the raising number of optical mounts used for mounting and positioning of optical components. Additional, the installation of electronics and inert gas purging systems to protect the optics against the abrasive optical beam extends the amount of components in the...

Digital manufacturing of reinforcement in a free-form concrete structure: Digital manufacturing of freeform concrete

This research paper is a TU Delft Master’s thesis for graduation track in the field of Building Technology. Its main theme, digital manufacturing of reinforced concrete structures, has already been studied/researched by many other enthusiasts; but they adopted approaches mainly based on the digital production of formworks or 3D printing of...

Printing a stainless steel bridge: An exploration of structural properties of stainless steel additive manufactures for civil engineering purposes

The potential of additive manufacturing is great: highly complex and efficient structures can be manufactured with hardly any waste material. While high-tech industries such as aviation and medicine have already embraced additive manufacturing, civil engineering is lagging behind. Research on the structural properties of additive manufactures in...

Innovative joints for gridshells

Additive manufacturing is a production technique that builds up successive layers of material to create a 3D object from a digital model. With additive manufacturing design freedom is offered, which enables new opportunities for structural engineers and designers. This new opportunity is applied to design and produce structural joints for...

MI-TP Cast

The goal is to develop a 3D printed wrist orthesis to replace the traditional plaster type and increases wearing comfort for the patients. It should be a class 1 category medical tool, with limited restrictions. The design should be clean, easy to fit and remove, light, and solid. The result should be a reflection of a clear understanding of 3D...