Experimenting with Laser Cutters & Rapid Prototypers

Dr. Jim Flowers

Technology Education Program

Ball State University

Rapid Prototyping Technology can

• Help your students make

professional-quality products

without all those skills

• Make a link between digital

designs and physical objects

• Allow students to make successive

changes to designs, and then see

the effects of those changes

• Produce parts needed for larger

assemblies

Ball State’s Rapid Prototyping Lab Technologies Include

3D Laser Scanning

Laser Cutting & Engraving

CAD/CAM Milling

Computer Numerical Control Turning (NC Lathe)

Fused Deposition Modeling

Color Solid Object Printing

Other Technologies in the RP Lab

• Tensile tester• Coordinate measuring machine• Plastics granulator, drier, and filament

extruders• Plastometers• Vacuum formers• Manual fabrication tools

But RP technologies can also support student experimentation.

• They allow the user to control several variables and perform repeated builds changing only the levels of independent variables.

• There is so much we really don’t know, and experimentation can help us find the answers.

For example: Optimizing Laser Settings

• Power• Speed• Focal Point• Pulses per

inch• Lines per

inch

An Experimental Approach to… Everything

Orr, T., & Flowers, J. (2014). An experimental approach to… everything! Technology & Engineering Teacher, 73(8), 8-12.

Determining the effect of FDM build orientation on tensile strength (T. Orr)

Hey Jim, can you 3D print onto cloth? (Rene Church)

• Kyle Samuels, a student in a graduate course on Inquiries into Rapid Prototyping, at Ball State found out.

Samuels, K., & Flowers, J. (In Press). Can your students 3D print onto cloth? Technology and Engineering Teacher.

Successful build test at material’s surface

Failed attempt on 100% cotton with a simple weave

Post wash test

Denim adhesion strength

test

Can we make 3D printer filament?

Raises the questions:

Orr, T., & Flowers, J. (In Press). Learning through plastic filament extrusion. Technology and Engineering Teacher.

Can we granulate

this plastic?

Does it have to be dried?

Hydrophobic?Hydrophilic?Hygroscopic?

Moisture Content?

Is it extrudable?What is its melt index?

Should we use a low-cost extruder?

or an industrial extruder?

Should we use a water bath?

What should the extrusion temperatures and speed be?

What should the tension (RPM) be?

What new 3D printing parameters will work with our extruded filament?

Can you use RP to createFlexographic Image Carriers?

Dr. Renmei Xu

Flowers, J., & Xu, R. (April, 2011). Exploring a connection: Prototyping graphic image carriers. Technology and Engineering Teacher e, 70(7), 1-6.

Xu, R. & Flowers, J. C. (2009). Flexographic platemaking using rapid prototyping technologies. FlexoGlobal, 2 (1), 24-30.

Flexo- Image Carriers fromPowdered Solid Object Printing?

Flexo- Image Carriers from FDM?

Flexo- Image Carriers from Laser Engraving?

Can you laser-etch an intaglio plate?

Xu, R., Londt, S., & Flowers, J. (2013). The effects of laser-engraving settings on cliché etch depth and pad printing quality. Journal of Print and Media Technology Research, 2(1), 29-35.

Can you laser-etch an intaglio

plate?

Can you laser-etch an intaglio plate? Yes, but what are the effects of laser-engraving settings on cliché etch depth and pad printing quality?

Can lasers be used to create stencils?

Xu, R., Londt, S. C., Kellogg, H. P. (2010). Evaluation of different stencilmaking methods for screen printing (pp. 228-242). Sewickley, PA: Proceedings of TAGA 62nd Annual Technical Conference.

Can lasers be used to create stencils?Yes, but what is the effect of…

Can you Upcycle with a laser?

Xu, R., Flowers, J. (2011). Engineering a greener process: Laser cutter transforms printing waste. Tech Directions, 71(2), 20-23.

Can you Upcycle with a laser?

Can you Upcycle with a laser?

Can you Upcycle with a laser?

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• New undergrad and grad class at Ball State:• Green Prototyping & Upcycling, where students

– Upcycle with laser cutters/engravers– Upcycle with a vacuum former– Design, prototype, and test products to promote

environmental sustainability– Attempt to extrude their own 3D filament from post-

consumer resins and 3D print with it

• May be used as an elective in our Master of Arts in Technology Education

Assisting others in their research:Kevin Barnes & Kamal Islam

• Scanned warbler model• 3D printed 10 decoys• Decoys were painted

and added to buckets playing songs to attract cerulean warblers to nest.

Kevin Barns, 2014, Master of Science Thesis Project: Cerulean Warbler Habitat Selections: Behavioral or Structural. Kamal Islam, PhD, Advisor.

Photos of Kevin and Kamal courtesy of Kamal Islam at http://kislam.iweb.bsu.edu/Cerulean%20Warbler%20Research.htm

So many experiments!• Optimizing parameters• Effects of parameters on products• Properties based on build orientation• Finding the limits of the technology• Designing new 3D printer filament• Adding inserts during 3D printing• Adhesion, finishing, etc., of 3D printed parts• Testing out new processes• and many, many more…

Another presentation:

• Intersecting Silhouettes

• Today, at the STEM Showcase

Experimenting with Laser Cutters & Rapid Prototypers

Dr. Jim Flowers

Technology Education Program

Ball State University

jcflowers1@bsu.edu