Repair was once a common act. With increased product diversity and complexity, a scarcity and obsolescence of spare parts is making repair increasingly difficult and economically unviable. The result is an accelerated turnover of manufactured goods, which are more often replaced than repaired. As products are discarded, embedded materials and energy are wasted.
Alternatively, in a proposed Circular Economy, repair is one of the most efficient strategies of product recovery, retaining as much of the manufactured product as possible whilst restoring its functionality. This makes repair a very effective strategy for sustainability, reducing energy and material waste through product life extension.
An opportunity to revive the habit of repair was found in using 3D printing to produce spare parts for the repair job. This project was initiated to explore the application of 3D printing in this manner, to gain insights and exploring the possibilities with currently available means.
The rise of digital manufacturing and 3D printing accessible to consumers has spawned the ‘Maker Movement’; people making their own physical objects, in a DIY ethic. By enabling ‘Makers’ to create their own spare parts, using 3D printing, a first step in the revival of repair is set.
All three aspects of human, technology and business are incorporated in this project, together leading to a viable strategy for sustainability through design. By incorporating Makers in the role of the repairer and introducing 3D modelling and printing technologies, Repair using 3D printing is found to be a viable concept.
Through an iterative process of practical case study experiments, a complete process of reproducing a viable substitute from an original part is developed. Various repair attempts on actual case subjects are done to explore several methods and options, gaining insights in the parameters and boundary conditions of repair using 3D printing. Resulting from this, a series of written guides and supportive tools are designed and published on popular online Maker platforms. The entire process is covered in the project poster, which includes QR-code links to the tools and guides.
The reproduction process covers three main obstacles: setting requirements for the new part, creating a 3D model and 3D printing it. The major challenge in this project was to enable inexperienced users to do so, using only common materials and equipment. The resulting process involves the decomposition of the original part to set requirements, after which it is measured and CAD modelled, or 3D scanned. For the latter, a 3D printable rotating platform is designed, that supports a photogrammetry-based 3D scanning procedure. Furthermore, two questionnaire-like tools are developed to advise users in the critical decisions of which 3D modelling strategy to apply in the particular case, and what material to 3D print it in.
The repair using 3D printing principle is successfully applied to several case studies, resulting in insights and guidelines for future application. A first step in a widespread adoption of this concept is set by providing Makers with a set of guides and tools to reproduce spare parts on their own. The project concludes with the publication of the developed guides and tools. The thesis overviews the process and outcomes and concludes with recommendations for further development.