3D Printing | Fused filament fabrication (FFF)

Brief Description and Motivation

This page highlights different 3D printing projects where a wide range of parts or assemblies are sized, designed, 3D printed and finally tested. The use of 3D printing provides a low-cost rapid prototyping which is a valuable tool for testing ideas and concepts.

All the projects and prints within this page are printed using one of the following printers shown below:

Creality Ender-3 V2 3D Printer
Creality Ender-3 3D Printer
Artillery Sidewinder X2 3D Printer
Prusa i3 MK3 3D Printer

Creality Ender-3 V2 3D Printer

Creality Ender-3 3D Printer

Artillery Sidewinder X2 3D Printer

Prusa i3 MK3 3D Printer

1 - Rotary Encoder Sensor

This print is to house a rotary encoder sensor (LM393) for a wheel odometry application. After sizing the part, it was:

Designed using Autodesk Inventor Professional 2022 (CAD) software
Sliced using Ultimaker Cura 4.13.1 software
3D printed using a polylactide (PLA) filament
Printer: Creality Ender-3 V2 3D Printer

LM393 rotary encoder sensor

Part's drawing

Printed and assembled part

Installed part

Skills Involved

3D Printing | Fused filament fabrication (FFF)
Inventor Autodesk (CAD)
Ultimaker Cura slicer

2 - Bicycle Tablet Holder

This print for a tablet holder that goes on a spinning bicycle. After sizing the part, it was:

Designed using Autodesk Inventor Professional 2022 (CAD) software
Sliced using Ultimaker Cura 4.13.1 software
3D printed using a Polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG) filament

Some of the part were split in order to meet the printing size limitation of the 3D printer.

Printer: Creality Ender-3 V2 3D Printer

Assembly's drawing

Assembly animation

Final assembly

Final product

Skills Involved

3D Printing | Fused filament fabrication (FFF)
Inventor Autodesk (CAD)
Ultimaker Cura slicer

3 - GNSS antenna mast mount replacement

This print is to replace a broken steel GNSS antenna mount due to a drone crash, for a tablet holder that goes on a spinning bicycle. After sizing the part, it was:

Designed using Autodesk Inventor Professional 2022 (CAD) software
Sliced using Ultimaker Cura 4.13.1 software
3D printed using a polylactide (PLA) filament
Printer: Creality Ender-3 V2 3D Printer

Original steel GNSS antenna mast mount

Part measurement

Part's drawing V1

Part 3D printing V1

Final product V1

After some destructive testing and trial and error, I reached to some conclusions:

The printed mount was the weakest at the base where it broke repetitively, and therefore I designed V2 of the mount

The location of failure in V1

Part V2

Moreover,

The strength of the part is significantly influenced by the printing orientation. For instance, on the one hand printing the part horizontally will lead to a higher resistance against transverse loads when installed. On the other hand, when printing vertically the part is highly susceptible to transverse loads when installed.

Printing horizontally

Printing vertically

Furthermore,

The failure of leveling the printer's printing bed will lead to a failed print. In the example below, the printing bed was not leveled properly which led to a detachment of the first layer of filament. Even though, it is the first layer that failed however, the failure was only observed after half way to the printing time signifying the importance of monitoring working 3D printing to avoid potential hazards such as fire.

A failed print

Skills Involved

3D Printing | Fused filament fabrication (FFF)
Inventor Autodesk (CAD)
Ultimaker Cura slicer
Failure Analysis
Design Review

4 - Home improvement | Shelf support

This print is to replace a broken glass shelf support. After sizing the part, it was:

Designed using Autodesk Inventor Professional 2022 (CAD) software
Sliced using Ultimaker Cura 4.13.1 software
3D printed using a polylactide (PLA) filament
Printers: Creality Ender-3 V2 3D Printer

Part's drawing

Final product

5 - Mockup UAV Cargo Box

This print is to replace a broken glass shelf support. After sizing the part, it was:

Designed using Autodesk Inventor Professional 2022 (CAD) software
Sliced using Ultimaker Cura 4.13.1 software
3D printed using a polylactide (PLA) filament
Printers: Creality Ender-3 V2, Creality Ender-3, Artillery Sidewinder X2 and Prusa i3 MK3 3D Printer, each side of the box was printed on a different printer

Part's drawing

Final product

Skills Involved

3D Printing | Fused filament fabrication (FFF)
Inventor Autodesk (CAD)
Ultimaker Cura slicer

6 - Motor Leveling Mechanism

This print is to level roll and pitch angle of the motors and motor's rod of the ReadytoSky LJI X4 500 quadcopter NXP HoverGames drone kit, it works by placing a water level or using an phone application, it was:

Designed using Autodesk Inventor Professional 2022 (CAD) software
Sliced using Ultimaker Cura 4.13.1 software
3D printed using a polylactide (PLA) filament
Printers: Creality Ender-3

Part measurement

Part's drawing

Final product

Skills Involved

3D Printing | Fused filament fabrication (FFF)
Inventor Autodesk (CAD)
Ultimaker Cura slicer

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