3D printing

Makerspaces foster creativity, collaborative work and craftsmanship. Anyone interested can use tools, machines and technologies to realize their own projects and develop their technical skills in the process. They also provide an inspiring environment where people with different backgrounds and expertise come together to learn, experiment and support each other. The following article discusses the importance, features and equipment of makerspaces, in particular the Innovation Laboratory Digitalization, which promotes interdisciplinary work at the Trier University of Applied Sciences and serves as an interface to the specialized labs. In addition, the process of prototyping is described using several application examples.

In selective laser melting, metal powder is melted layer by layer and fused with the already manufactured part. Within this process, defective layers are created, which can be avoided. Such defects can only be detected by various compression and tensile strength experiments after printing is complete. This procedure is costly and inefficient. Therefore, the authors would like to present a demonstrator which, with the help of machine learning methods which draw from sensor-based data acquisition, is able to detect faulty layers during the manufacturing process itself and to support the machine supervisor with decision recommendations.

The production of apparel and footwear has a significant impact on the environment. In 2016, these two product categories accounted for about 8 % of global climate emissions. To reach global emission goals, different production strategies are required. As an additive manufacturing process, 3D printing offers the possibility of mass customisation by combining the cost advantages of mass production and the individualisation of custom-made products. We present an approach to using FFF 3D printers to produce complete shoes, eliminating the need for auxiliary materials and many manufacturing steps. Here, mass customisation is done by adapting digital shoe models to customers' foot scans, creating individualised one-off pieces. Considering only the production process, emissions from a pair of 3D printed shoes are slightly higher than conventionally manufactured shoes. Beyond the environmental aspects, 3D printed shoes have advantages in the aspects of social and economic sustainability. The ...

Additive manufacturing processes are becoming increasingly important in industry and enable the cost-e ective production of complex components in small quantities. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular can bene t from the high customization potential enabling the development of new business models. However, the widespread use of additive processes faces high production costs and technological challenges. Meanwhile, scienti c research focuses on the optimization of individual process steps of additive manufacturing and does not o er su cient support for SMEs. Therefore, this paper deals with the development of a cross-process value chain of additive manufacturing for SMEs. Based on a systematic analysis of scienti c literature, relevant additive manufacturing processes were investigated, and a cross-process value chain was derived. The results were veri ed by expert interviews and central research and development requirements were extracted.

The filament printing presented here can be used to produce metallic and ceramic components with complex shapes. Filaments in various highly filled polymers are available for the process. By means of the Shaping-Debinding-Sintering process the green bodies are converted into metallic/ceramic components. As with the PIM process, the filament printing can be used to produce near-net-shape parts, whereby the sintered bodies have a linear shrinkage of 15-20 % compared to the green bodies. In order to produce parts of very high quality, the printing process must be controlled accordingly.