OVERVIEW

Additive manufacturing is deeply modifying several industrial activities  promoting new technological opportunities. In this background, the teaching “Polymers for Additive Manufacturing” provides the basics for a scientific approach to 3D printing. The students will study the chemico-physical processes involved in the additive manufacturing technologies, the use of software and  FDM and DLP 3D printers.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The teaching provides the basics for a scientific approach to 3D printing. The students will study the chemical-physical processes involved in the additive manufacturing technologies, the use of software and FDM and DLP 3D printers

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The teaching faces different processes involved in additive manufacturing and provides the basics of:

a) fundamentals of CAD and slicing software;

b) the main properties or polymers employed in 3D printing technologies;

c) the use of DLP and FDM printers;

d) the properties of manufacts printed with FDM and DLP techniques.

The teaching Polymer for Additive Manufacturing aims to providing  practical and theoretical knowledge on 3D printing (focusing on FDM and DLP technologies). After the course the students will know the working principles and applications of the main 3D printing technologies and will acquire practical experience with both software and hardware employed for polymer additive manufacturing. In details, the students will study the materials employed in filament deposition (thermoplastic polymers and their properties) and photopolymerization (radical mechanisms and issues related) and in powder sintering 3D printing. They will also acquire detailed knowledge on the different printing technologies and will learn to define pros and cons as well as uses of the technologies for different applications. The students will finally be able to correlate the properties of printed manufacts with the printing conditions and the material.

PREREQUISITES

The students must possess knowledge related to polymeric materials. For this reason it is required to have undertaken the exam of the teaching “Scienza e tecnologia dei materiali polimerici” (for student of the University of Genova) or analogous (for students from other universities).

TEACHING METHODS

The teaching consists of both lectures in classroom (24 h) and laboratory activities (13 h). The lectures will present basics on the chemico-physical properties and processability of thermoplastics and thermoset polymers and will focus on the detailed description of additive manufacturing technologies (FDM, DLP, SLA, SLS). 4 laboratories will then allow the student to put in practice knowledge acquired during the lectures, employing 3D printer and related software to explore the effect of operational parameters on the quality and properties of the printed manufact. During the laboratory activities, depending on their number, the students may work in small groups.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

1. Additive manufacturing: The fourth industrial revolution.
2. Principles of 3D printing: from drawing to layer printing.
3. Polymer for additive manufacturing. Properties of thermoplastics and thermoset polymers used in printing technologies.
4. Fused deposition modelling (FDM). Physical and Chemical principles, materials, and applications
5. Stereolitography (SLA, DLP). Physical and Chemical principles, resists, and applications.
6. Selective laser sintering (SLS). Physical and Chemical principles, fundamental parameters, applications.
7. Comparison among the different technologies, correlation between processing variables and properties of the manufacts.
8. Perspectives of the techniques.

Laboratories:

1. Software for Additive manufacturing: CAD drawing and slicing with freeware software.
2. FDM manufacturing: effects on the parameters on the properties of the manufact; printing of thermoplastic  amorphous & semicrystalline polymers (warpage).
3. DLP manufacturing: UV-Vis spectroscopy  of the resist before and after photopolymerization; effect of operational variables on the properties of the manufacts.
4. SLS manufacturing: Sintering of polymer powders in printing condition

This class contributes to the achievement of the following 2030 ONU Agenda sustainability Goals: 4,5.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

• slides of the teaching lessons, provided by the teachers
• Stampa 3D – Tutto quello che c’è da sapere sull’unica rivoluzione possibile, D. Sher, D. Marinoni, Hoepli Lavis (TN) 2019.

• Stampa 3D – Guida completa, A. Maietta,LSWRLavis (TN) 2014

• Stampa 3D – il manuale pe rhobbisti e maker, P. Calderan, ApogeoTrebaseleghe (PD) 2015

• The 3D printing handbook, B. Redwood, F. Schöffer, B. Garret (3D fans)

• 3D printing for dummies, R. Horne, K.K. Hausman (Wiley)

• Polymer Chemistry, S. Koltenburg, M. Maskas, O. Nuyken (Springer)

• Polymers: Chemistry and Physics of Modern Material, I.M.G. Cowie

• Principles of Polymer Chemistry, P. Flory

• AAVV Fondamenti di Scienza dei Polimeri (AIM)

• Polymer Physics, U.W. Gedde • Introduction to Polymer Physics, L.H. Sperling

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

DARIO CAVALLO (President)

PAOLA LOVA (President)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

second semester: last week of February / first week of March. For more details / updates check https://corsi.unige.it/9020

Class schedule

L'orario di tutti gli insegnamenti è consultabile all'indirizzo EasyAcademy.

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The student will discuss an original power-point presentation on a topic related to the teaching and will be asked to describe the theoretical aspects of the related 3D printing technique. The student will select the topic with the help of the teacher among those reported in the scientific literature. The presentation should have an approximate length of 15 to 20 minutes. The student must demonstrate comprehension of the physical/chemical/technological fundamentals related to the topic selected and to use appropriate technical vocabulary. The clarity of presentation and ability to answer questions will be also evaluated.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The purpose of the exam is the verification by the commission of the achievement of the educational objectives of the teaching. Otherwise, the student will be invited to deepen the study and to make use of further explanations by the teacher before taking the exam again. To ensure correspondence between the topics of the exam and the educational objectives of the teaching, the detailed course program is uploaded to AulaWeb and/or on Microsoft Teams and illustrated at the beginning of the lessons, so that students can verify compliance. During the assistance to the laboratory exercises, the teacher will evaluate the effective involvement of the individual students in the experience and the ability to carefully carry out the experimental measurements. The individual oral exam will allow to ascertain in detail the achievement of an adequate level of knowledge in the field of 3D printing of polymeric materials, and in general the ability to deduce relationships between printing conditions and properties obtained, also on the basis of knowledge acquired in previous polymeric courses.

For students with disabilities or with DSA, the exam methods are aligned with the University regulations for carrying out profit exams (https://unige.it/disabilita-dsa).