Feasibility of On-demand Additive Manufacturing of Spare Parts

Spare parts availability is crucial for extending the life of consumer products. However, long-term availability could lead to high stocks of spare parts, which might not be used. Instead, on-demand manufacturing of spare parts with additive manufacturing (AM) is a promising alternative. This paper presents a method to evaluate parts on their...

3D Printing for Repair: An Approach for Enhancing Repair

The availability and storage of spare parts are the main barriers to product repair. One possibility would be to 3D print spare parts, which would also enable the repair of products not intended to be repaired. Besides manufacturers, 3D printing spare parts is an interesting option for self-repair by consumers. However, the digitisation of...

Opportunities For 3D-printable Spare Parts: Estimations From Historical Data

The Sharepair project aims to decrease the waste of electronic and electric consumer products and increase their useful life, by supporting repair communities and scaling up citizen repairs through digital tools. One of the focus areas of this project is to support the discovery or manufacturing of spare parts. With a 3D CAD model of a part and...

Enhancing 3D printing for repair: Designing a system that enhances the collaboration between repairers and makers

This project focuses on enhancing the accessibility of 3D printing for repairers by designing a system in which repairers can collaborate with makers. Repair has become rare in societies with an abundance of cheap goods. However in recent years repair is making a gradual comeback in western culture. Citizen repair initiatives such as Repair...