Investigation of FDM-Based 3D Printing for Optimized Tooling in Automotive and Electronics Sheet Metal Cutting
Within the scope of the work, the possible use of fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology in executing rapid prototypes of cutting tools for aluminum sheets was systematically studied. Relevant investigations have thus far mainly concentrated on tools for the 3D printing of bent and deep-drawn pi...
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MDPI AG
2025-01-01
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| author | Szabolcs Szalai Brigitta Fruzsina Szívós Vivien Nemes György Szabó Dmytro Kurhan Mykola Sysyn Szabolcs Fischer |
| author_facet | Szabolcs Szalai Brigitta Fruzsina Szívós Vivien Nemes György Szabó Dmytro Kurhan Mykola Sysyn Szabolcs Fischer |
| author_sort | Szabolcs Szalai |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Within the scope of the work, the possible use of fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology in executing rapid prototypes of cutting tools for aluminum sheets was systematically studied. Relevant investigations have thus far mainly concentrated on tools for the 3D printing of bent and deep-drawn pieces, yet the implementation of FDM tools in cutting has been insufficiently covered. This study aims to determine the characteristics of FDM cutting tools, such as wear and tear, dimensional stability, and cutting efficiency. Various tool designs were tested under different wall thicknesses and orientations with respect to the feed of Al99.5 sheets with thicknesses of 0.22 mm and 0.3 mm. According to the results, in the best case, three-dimensional printed PLA tools performed six cuts with no burrs and an acceptable wear level due to the IT tolerances (IT9 and IT10). Tools with thicker walls and more appropriate orientations were found to be more robust. However, some designs failed when subjected to greater loads, revealing a deficiency in some of the strength properties of the material. These observations suggest that it is possible to create 3D printed tools for modeling and small-scale production at considerably cheaper and faster rates than conventional methods. Future work will integrate advanced materials and designs to enhance tool performance, further solidifying FDM as a transformative approach in industrial tool manufacturing. With this research, the authors wanted to demonstrate that FDM technology can also be used to produce a classic sheet cut, which, of course, is still of great importance for prototyping or setting up production processes. This research demonstrated that FDM printing can play a role in this area. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-de19cf2dce2740029e0ec3f39ef9eb60 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-de19cf2dce2740029e0ec3f39ef9eb602025-01-10T13:15:34ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172025-01-0115144210.3390/app15010442Investigation of FDM-Based 3D Printing for Optimized Tooling in Automotive and Electronics Sheet Metal CuttingSzabolcs Szalai0Brigitta Fruzsina Szívós1Vivien Nemes2György Szabó3Dmytro Kurhan4Mykola Sysyn5Szabolcs Fischer6Central Campus Győr, Széchenyi István University, H-9026 Győr, HungaryCentral Campus Győr, Széchenyi István University, H-9026 Győr, HungaryCentral Campus Győr, Széchenyi István University, H-9026 Győr, HungaryCentral Campus Győr, Széchenyi István University, H-9026 Győr, HungaryDepartment of Transport Infrastructure, Ukrainian State University of Science and Technologies, UA-49005 Dnipro, UkraineDepartment of Planning and Design of Railway Infrastructure, Technical University Dresden, D-01069 Dresden, GermanyCentral Campus Győr, Széchenyi István University, H-9026 Győr, HungaryWithin the scope of the work, the possible use of fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology in executing rapid prototypes of cutting tools for aluminum sheets was systematically studied. Relevant investigations have thus far mainly concentrated on tools for the 3D printing of bent and deep-drawn pieces, yet the implementation of FDM tools in cutting has been insufficiently covered. This study aims to determine the characteristics of FDM cutting tools, such as wear and tear, dimensional stability, and cutting efficiency. Various tool designs were tested under different wall thicknesses and orientations with respect to the feed of Al99.5 sheets with thicknesses of 0.22 mm and 0.3 mm. According to the results, in the best case, three-dimensional printed PLA tools performed six cuts with no burrs and an acceptable wear level due to the IT tolerances (IT9 and IT10). Tools with thicker walls and more appropriate orientations were found to be more robust. However, some designs failed when subjected to greater loads, revealing a deficiency in some of the strength properties of the material. These observations suggest that it is possible to create 3D printed tools for modeling and small-scale production at considerably cheaper and faster rates than conventional methods. Future work will integrate advanced materials and designs to enhance tool performance, further solidifying FDM as a transformative approach in industrial tool manufacturing. With this research, the authors wanted to demonstrate that FDM technology can also be used to produce a classic sheet cut, which, of course, is still of great importance for prototyping or setting up production processes. This research demonstrated that FDM printing can play a role in this area.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/1/4423D printingPLAFDMrapid prototype3D scanningoptimization |
| spellingShingle | Szabolcs Szalai Brigitta Fruzsina Szívós Vivien Nemes György Szabó Dmytro Kurhan Mykola Sysyn Szabolcs Fischer Investigation of FDM-Based 3D Printing for Optimized Tooling in Automotive and Electronics Sheet Metal Cutting Applied Sciences 3D printing PLA FDM rapid prototype 3D scanning optimization |
| title | Investigation of FDM-Based 3D Printing for Optimized Tooling in Automotive and Electronics Sheet Metal Cutting |
| title_full | Investigation of FDM-Based 3D Printing for Optimized Tooling in Automotive and Electronics Sheet Metal Cutting |
| title_fullStr | Investigation of FDM-Based 3D Printing for Optimized Tooling in Automotive and Electronics Sheet Metal Cutting |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigation of FDM-Based 3D Printing for Optimized Tooling in Automotive and Electronics Sheet Metal Cutting |
| title_short | Investigation of FDM-Based 3D Printing for Optimized Tooling in Automotive and Electronics Sheet Metal Cutting |
| title_sort | investigation of fdm based 3d printing for optimized tooling in automotive and electronics sheet metal cutting |
| topic | 3D printing PLA FDM rapid prototype 3D scanning optimization |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/1/442 |
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