Sustainability is fundamental in the field of additive manufacturing (AM) for improving eco-consciousness and driving evolution toward environmentally responsible production methods. Compared to ...traditional manufacturing processes, AM technologies can be more resource-efficient and offer innovative solutions for creating eco-friendly processes and products. Nevertheless, there is significant potential for improvement in additive manufacturing sustainability. The key factors driving this improvement include design optimization and increased awareness. Designers and engineers can create designs that optimize material efficiency and reduce support structures. Raising awareness and educating stakeholders about the environmental benefits of AM can promote responsible choices throughout the industrial process. The development of a tool to assess the environmental impact of AM processes could be a significant contribution to advancing sustainability in the AM field. The EcoPrintAnalyzer, introduced as a complementary plugin for UltiMaker Cura, offers data on the equivalent carbon dioxide footprint and energy consumption in material extrusion additive manufacturing. This tool facilitates informed decision-making regarding materials, designs, and settings, enabling users to optimize their AM processes for reduced waste and enhanced energy efficiency. Beyond aiding decision-making, the EcoPrintAnalyzer fosters environmental consciousness and encourages the adoption of sustainable practices within the AM ecosystem. The efficacy of the tool is demonstrated through the 3DBenchy model case study, showcasing its intuitive interface and seamless integration within the AM process workflow for immediate and comparative environmental impact assessments across different process configurations.
Primary dentition is crucial in influencing the emergence of permanent teeth. Premature primary tooth loss can result in undesired tooth motions and space loss in the permanent dentition. Typically, ...fixed or removable dental appliances are adopted to maintain edentulous space until the eruption of permanent teeth. However, traditional space maintainers have limitations in terms of variability in tooth anatomy, potential allergic reactions in some individuals (i.e., nickel sensitivity), difficulties in maintaining oral hygiene, and patient acceptance. The present study introduces a fully digital framework for the design and manufacturing of customized pediatric unilateral space maintainers using generative algorithms. The proposed approach overcomes the current challenges by using a biocompatible resin material and optimizing the device’s size, design, and color. The methodology involves intraoral scanning, surface selection, and trim, generative 3D modeling, finite element analysis (FEA), and additive manufacturing (AM) through vat photopolymerization. FEA results demonstrate the device’s mechanical performance and reliability, while additive manufacturing ensures design freedom, high resolution, surface finishing, dimensional accuracy, and proper fit. The mechanical interlocking system facilitates easy and effective positioning of the device. This digital approach offers the potential for wider usage of space maintainers and can be further validated through experimental assessments and clinical studies.
HoloLens is the most recent and advanced forms of wearable Mixed Reality (MR) technology. It enables the user wearing a head-mounted device to experience 3D holographic objects “inside” the ...visualization of the real environment where he or she is located. Existing HoloLens applications have been developed in domains such as data visualization, entertainment, industrial training, education, and tourism, but the use of this technology in the arena of mental health is largely unexplored. The paper presents a HoloLens-based system called MemHolo that addresses persons with mild Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). AD is associated to a chronic progressive neurodegenerative process that severely affects cognitive functioning (especially memory) and some motor functions. MemHolo is intended to be used as a cognitive training tool to practice short-term and spatial memory in a safe and controlled virtual environment, and to mitigate the effects of mental decline. The paper discusses the design process of MemHolo, and describes three evaluation studies on progressive prototypes. To our knowledge, MemHolo is the first HoloLens application designed natively for persons with AD. Our empirical work sheds a light on how these people experience HoloLens applications, highlights some challenges and potential benefits of using MR technology in the AD arena, and may pave the ground towards new forms of treatment.
Typical additive manufacturing (AM) processes for producing metal and ceramic parts are highly energy-consuming and expensive to install and maintain. On the other hand, material extrusion AM (MEAM) ...technologies are conventionally used to produce polymeric parts but only marginally to process metallic materials. A feasible alternative is to process polymeric filaments loaded with metal particles. Debinding and sintering processes are then required to join the metal particles and obtain the final parts. In recent years, highly filled metal filaments consisting of a polymer loaded with a high concentration of metal powder have been commercialized for this purpose. In this study, the printability of a commercial CuSn12 filament was investigated by evaluating the influence of the process parameters on the density, shrinkage, porosity, and mechanical properties of the additively manufactured samples using a low-cost desktop 3D printer. Parameters such as the flow rate and ironing had the greatest influence on the density of the green samples. The correct selection of these parameters may reduce shrinkage after sintering. Furthermore, the obtained bronze had a notable ultimate tensile strength (mean value of 107 MPa), high stiffness (
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values range from 38 to 50 GPa), and a greater elongation at break (mean value of 13%) than that of cast bronze of the same CuSn12 type. In this case, the extrusion pattern and ironing had the most significant influence on the final mechanical performance. The study provides insights into the use of highly filled bronze filaments combined with MEAM to produce functional parts for engineering applications.
Abstract
The 3D reconstruction of upper limb anatomy plays a significant role in many biomedical fields such as ergonomics, motion rehabilitation, and prosthesis design. In the last few years, the ...technical advancement of consumer-grade depth cameras has supported the development of portable and low-cost optical 3D body scanners for healthcare applications. The real-time scanning of human body parts, however, still represents a complex task due to the non-stationary nature of the scanning target. This issue imposes that the scanning time must be reduced as much as possible to minimize scanning artifacts. In this regard, depth cameras can capture geometrical information at video frame rates, thus guaranteeing fast acquisition times. Furthermore, the simultaneous use of multiple sensors would minimize undercut geometries, which impair the 3D reconstruction’s completeness. In this work, a portable 3D optical scanner has been developed by rigidly assembling three Intel® RealSense™ D415 depth cameras on a lightweight circular frame. The three sensors are mutually calibrated, by using a 3D printed calibration specimen, to simultaneously align acquisitions from the three different camera viewpoints for each scanner pose. The system’s effectiveness has been assessed by acquiring the geometry of both a plaster hand and a human hand and comparing the results with those obtained by a high-end stationary structured light scanner. The developed system represents a low-cost handheld alternative to existing body scanners for collecting and storing 3D anatomical data, which can be used in the design process of bespoke medical devices.
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