Jorge Ramos-Grez

Sensitivity analysis of geometric errors in additive manufacturing medical models.

Additive manufacturing (AM) models are used in medical applications for surgical planning, prosthesis design and teaching. For these applications, the accuracy of the AM models is essential. Unfortunately, this accuracy is compromised due to errors introduced by each of the building steps: image acquisition, segmentation, triangulation, printing and infiltration. However, the contribution of each step to the final error remains unclear. We performed a sensitivity analysis comparing errors obtained from a reference with those obtained modifying parameters of each building step. Our analysis considered global indexes to evaluate the overall error, and local indexes to show how this error is distributed along the surface of the AM models. Our results show that the standard building process tends to overestimate the AM models, i.e. models are larger than the original structures. They also show that the triangulation resolution and the segmentation threshold are critical factors, and that the errors are concentrated at regions with high curvatures. Errors could be reduced choosing better triangulation and printing resolutions, but there is an important need for modifying some of the standard building processes, particularly the segmentation algorithms.

Elastic tensor stiffness coefficients for SLS Nylon 12 under different degrees of densification as measured by ultrasonic technique

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present results of an investigation, where the elastic tensor based on the engineering constants of sinterized Nylon 12 is characterized and is modeled considering a transversely isotropic behavior as a function of apparent density (relative mass density).Design/methodology/approach – The ultrasound propagation velocity measurement through the material in specific directions by means of the pulse transmission method was used, relating the elastic tensor elements to the phase velocity magnitude through Christoffels equation. In addition conventional uniaxial tensile tests were carried out to validate the used technique. Laser sintering of Nylon 12 powder (Duraform PA) has been performed at different laser energy densities, fabricating cube‐shaped coupons as well as dogbone flat coupons, using an SLS 125 former DTM machine.Findings – Correlations for each one of the Young moduli, Shear constants and Poissons ratios, presenting an exponential behavior as a function...

Quantitative assessments of geometric errors for rapid prototyping in medical applications

Purpose – In medical applications, it is crucial to evaluate the geometric accuracy of rapid prototyping (RP) models. Current research on evaluating geometric accuracy has focused on identifying two or more specific anatomical landmarks on the original structure and the RP model, and comparing their corresponding linear distances. Such kind of accuracy metrics is ambiguous and may induce misrepresentations of the actual errors. The purpose of this paper is to propose an alternative method and metrics to measure the accuracy of RP models.Design/methodology/approach – The authors propose an accuracy metric composed of two different approaches: a global accuracy evaluation using volumetric intersection indexes calculated over segmented Computed Tomography scans of the original object and the RP model. Second, a local error metric that is computed from the surfaces of the original object and the RP model. This local error is rendered in a 3D surface using a color code, that allow differentiating regions where...

Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Low Output Power Laser Bending of Thin Steel Sheets

This work presents an experimental and numerical analysis of a low output power single-pass laser forming process applied to thin stainless steel sheets. To this end, the proposed methodology consists in four stages respectively devoted to material characterization via tensile testing, estimation of thermal boundary conditions present in laser forming, realization of laser bending tests for two sets of operating variables, and finally, numerical simulation of this process carried out with a coupled thermomechanical finite element formulation accounting for large plastic strains, temperature-dependent material properties and convection–radiation phenomena. The numerical analysis, focused on the description of the evolution of the thermomechanical material response, is found to provide a satisfactory experimental validation of the final bending angle for two laser forming cases with different operating variables. In both cases, the predicted high temperature gradients occurring across the sample thickness show that the deformation process is mainly governed by the thermal gradient mechanism.

Characterization of the mechanical properties of samples fabricated by an experimental SGM device

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of different parameters (layer thickness, jetted binder volume per layer and type of binder and temperature) on the mechanical properties of parts made with an experimental 3D printing (3DP) process. This 3DP device built for this project is based on the spiral growth manufacturing (SGM) device previously introduced by Hauser et al. at The University of Liverpool. It differs from the common 3DP in that it generates the different parts using only one rotating piston instead of two non‐rotating ones.Design/methodology/approach – Several parts are produced using this device according to an experimental design, repeating each run three times. The experimental machine is able to make every part needed without major issues, demonstrating that it is possible to build a functional device using common and standard components.Findings – Experimental analysis of the printed parts shows that the layer thickness has the highest effect on apparent density, hard...

Note on the Rate and Energy Efficiency Limits for Additive Manufacturing

We review the process rates and energy intensities of various additive processing technologies and focus on recent progress in improving these metrics for laser powder bed fusion processing of metals, and filament and pellet extrusion processing of polymers and composites. Over the last decade, observed progress in raw build rates has been quite substantial, with laser metal processes improving by about 1 order of magnitude, and polymer extrusion processes by more than 2 orders of magnitude. We develop simple heat transfer models that explain these improvements, point to other possible strategies for improvement, and highlight rate limits. We observe a pattern in laser metal technologies that mimics the development of machine tools; an efficiency plateau, where faster rates require more power with no change in energy nor rate efficiency.

Characterization of the absorptance of laser irradiated steel sheets

This work presents an experimental-numerical methodology aimed at deriving the absorptance of both a low output power CO2 laser beam and a Yb fiber laser beam applied to an AISI 304 stainless steel cold-rolled sheet under two different conditions of the sample surface: without and with a spray graphite coating. The absorptance values were obtained by minimizing the error between temperature evolution measurements at various locations of the irradiated sheet and the corresponding finite element predictions. The values obtained for the CO2 laser were a = 0.20 for the stainless steel and a = 0.41 for the graphite coating. For the Yb fiber laser, the values were a = 0.40 for the stainless steel and a = 0.64 for the graphite coating. Degradation of the graphite layer was observed when the resistance temperature of the graphite coating was exceeded.

Towards direct metal laser fabrication of Cu-based shape memory alloys

The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibility of producing Cu-based shape memory alloys (SMA) by means of direct metal laser fabrication (DMLF).,The fabrication approach consists of the combination of laser melting of a metallic powder with heating treatment in a controlled inert atmosphere. Three prospective Cu-Al-Ni alloy compositions were tested, and the effects of laser power, as well as laser exposure time, were verified.,All the processed materials were found to attain microstructures and phase change transformation temperatures typical of this type of SMA.,Further development of this technique will allow for fabrication of large elements with considerable shape memory effect, which are currently not viable due to high cost of nitinol.,This work showed a proof of concept toward the development of DMLF-based additive manufacturing of near net shape components of Cu-based SMAs from elemental powders.

Improving myoblast differentiation on electrospun poly(ε‐caprolactone) scaffolds

Polymer scaffolds are used as an alternative to support tissue regeneration when it does not occur on its own. Cell response on polymer scaffolds is determined by factors such as polymer composition, topology, and the presence of other molecules. We evaluated the cellular response of murine skeletal muscle myoblasts on aligned or unaligned fibers obtained by electrospinning poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL), and blends with poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) or decorin, a proteoglycan known to regulate myogenesis. The results showed that aligned PCL fibers with higher content of PLGA promote cell growth and improve the quality of differentiation with PLGA scaffolds having the highest confluence at over 68% of coverage per field of view for myoblasts and more than 7% of coverage for myotubes. At the same time, the addition of decorin greatly improves the quantity and quality of differentiated cells in terms of cell fusion, myotube length and thickness, being 71, 10, and 51% greater than without the protein, respectively. Interestingly, our results suggest that at certain concentrations, the effect of decorin on myoblast differentiation exceeds the topological effect of fiber alignment.

Texture Distribution and Plane Strain Mechanical Behavior of AA 7xxx Plates of Different Thicknesses

Texture distribution of a rolled aluminum alloy type AA 7449 plate having two thicknesses is presented here. The mechanical behavior of these aluminum alloy plates under plane strain compression (PSC) was studied under different shear stress textures. Crystallographic texture of specimens was characterized by x-ray diffraction and the corresponding volume fractions of each texture component were determined. The obtained results show that shear stress texture components are concentrated at layers immediately below the surface, as it had been previously proposed. Additionally, specimens were subjected to hot PSC to mimic industrial hot rolling process under controlled conditions. The measured rheological parameters, strain rate sensitivity coefficient m, and activation energy Q, show that the mechanical behavior under PSC is more sensitive to test conditions than to the shear stress texture.