PSI - Issue 63

Dominik Gřešica et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 63 (2024) 7– 12

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2.4. Proposed procedure In view of the above findings and the needs of early research into the applicability of 3D printing for the joining of membrane structures, a clearly defined plan was established:  To use available 3D printers for FDM printing of polycarbonate to produce simple models of the joints and determine the exact material properties.  Numerical modelling of small details and use of experimental data to determine accurate material models.  Application of material models and knowledge of geometry of small physical models to the preparation of real scale numerical models.  Analysis of the possibilities and limitations of 3D printing of plastics and metals within a research organization with respect to feature size and homogeneity.  Fabrication of real elements of membrane joints for testing capabilities in laboratories.  Comparison of numerical modelling and experimental results, further modifications and topology optimization. 2.5. Practical notes As part of any basic research, it is necessary to confront hypotheses and initial ideas with the reality of the needs of designers and companies that will use these technologies in the future. From the first experiments that were carried out at our workplace, it was possible to determine the following practical recommendations:  The production of the joint is limited by the size of the printer space, but a joint of several pieces can be designed, which is glued with a suitable adhesive, or mechanically.  The manufacture of the joint must be preceded by a fundamental numerical analysis of the internal stress based on clearly defined boundary conditions and material models.  Delamination of the layers of the printed sample can be a fundamental problem that is not easy to numerically model.  There is a large amount of access to 3D printing and a large number of different materials that can be used, which will lead to further challenges in this area.  The topology of each element must be of great importance in the presented topic, which is closely related to point 2, i.e. detailed numerical preparation before production. Even though these are basic findings, their ideas lead to a logical progression of further work, which is very important with respect to resource conservation and sustainability. 3. Conclusions This article highlights the basic and simplified ideas of 3D printing of plastics and metals in construction. From a practical point of view, it is desirable to understand the objectives and initial ideas of the application of the well known 3D printing technology. Regardless of the high importance of 3D printing in various industries, its direct applicability is not always a clear benefit, as it can be an unnecessary cost increase. On the contrary, it is necessary to look for cases where 3D printing is advantageous and satisfactorily maintains the principles of sustainability and ecology. This paper presents a clearly defined roadmap that is based on a logical foundation and thus provides a clear path for future extensive research. This plan contains chronological and logical sequences, which may cause problems in the real process. Therefore, future research needs to take into account the experiences of other researchers around the world. The brief literature review presented here needs to be thoroughly expanded and refined. Acknowledgements This research and this paper were funded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic in Student Grant Competition through VSB – Technical University of Ostrava – grant number: SGS SP2024/093.