PART I: Introduction
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The most exciting part of BIOE555, 3D printing, is finally here! I consider myself a hands-on person who really enjoys building and fixing things on my own. I also love watching maker videos on YouTube, especially those related to 3D printing.
I know that 3D printing is widely used across many fields, and as a biomedical researcher, I am eager to apply 3D bioprinting skills in my research eventually. This class has given me a great foundation to start learning the principles and background of 3D printing, making it a perfect starting point. I would also like to thank Joe for his invaluable technical support.
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PART II: Workflow
- First: Object searching
According to the requirement, I select a Movable Gorilla as the object. This object was selected from Thingiverse, published by SanLocca. For the 3D printing, making the moving structure is the most important advantage of the 3D printer.
. - Second: Scale adjustment
The size of the objective was 90.364 x 50 x 25.7 mm. In order to fit the gumball, I adjusted the size to 60 x 33.1991 x 17.0643 mm. Below is the final design I used to do 3D printing.
. - Last: 3D printing
Last, I used the FDM systems with PLA filament to print the object. Also, I attempt to use the SLA system to print the object as well. Below are the photos of my 3D printing Movable Gorilla.
↑↑↑ FDM ↑↑↑ SLA
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PART III: Troubleshooting
- [Issue 1]
In the beginning, in order to make sure my object could be put into the gumball, I adjusted the size to 35 x 19.3661 x 9.9542 mm. However, the objects were too small to print (Please see the following issues for more details). So, I adjusted the size to 80 x 44.2654 x 22.7523 mm. Unfortunately, this one was still too big to fit in the gumball. The final size I used was 60 x 33.1991 x 17.0643 mm.
↑↑↑ The right one is the final size I used.
. - [Issue 2]
Since my object was pretty small (35 x 19.3661 x 9.9542 mm), I included a brim as a support structure when I used the FDM system to print the object. Because the object was too tiny, it was difficult to remove the brim structure. Even though I was really careful to operate this stage, I broke all the pieces I printed in the first run.
. - [Issue 3]
To follow up the issue 2, in order to preserve the main structure, I attempted to remove the brim structure. But, without the brim to support the object structure, I encountered the layer shift issue as photo shown below. Eventually, I tried to scale up the size of the object and added the brim structure back. Issue 2 and issue 3 were fixed.
. - [Issue 4]
In the first test, by using the SLA system to print my object, I let one side of my object attach to the raft structure. Besides, the size of the object was too small. So, I could not detach my object from the raft structure as Fig. A below. Therefore, when I scaled up my object, I attempted to rotate the object and added support structures as Fig. B below. This adjustment made me fix this issue.
↑↑↑ Fig. A ↑↑↑ Fig. B
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PART IV: The Work Space
The space was cleaned after used.
PART V: Cost Estimation
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Cost |
Cost | Price | Source | Quantity |
Total |
| Materials | PLA Basic | $19.99 | Bambu Lab | 1 role | $19.99 |
| Grey Pro Resin | $199.99 | formlabs | 1 L | $199.99 | |
| Gumball | $12.09 | amazon.com | 5 pieces | $12. 09 | |
| Labor | 3D printer Operator | $19/hr | ZipRecruiter.com | 3 hr | $57.0 |
| Prototyping Engineer (You!) |
$25/hr | Indeed.com (Engineering Intern) |
5 hr | $125.0 | |
| Overhead | Machine Time | $25/day | cnczone.com | 1 day | $25.0 |
| Quality Control | $22.5/hr | Glassdoor.com | 1 hr | $22.5 | |
| Design | Engineering and Development | $25/hr | Indeed.com (Engineering Intern) |
1 hr | $25.0 |
Total: 486.57
The total for completing the 3D printing objects is $ 486.57. Most of the manufacturing cost of 3D printing is materials and labor. Since I am in the prototyping stage, I need to take more time and west more materials to find the best parameter. Once I get familiar with the 3D printers and the properties of the supplement, the manufacturing cost can be diluted by an increase in scale, material costs, and labor.
