Nicole Lee Rose Hills
Improving Success of General-Use 3D Printing via Part Re-Orientation
Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, is a set of manufacturing techniques that is rapidly developing use cases across many fields. Part orientation is an important but often overlooked design requirement for 3D printing that impacts the properties of the final product. Printing a part in its optimal orientation can enhance the print speed, strength, and quality. The objective of this project is to analyze the effect of part orientation on print success using data collected from the 3D printing services offered by Berkeley’s Jacobs Hall. Understanding the relationship between print orientation and the likelihood of success will improve general-use 3D printing applications by avoiding print failures ahead of time and enhancing part quality without significant revision, ultimately reducing the rate of failure. The results of the project will provide insight into what aspects of a part’s orientation determine the outcome of the print, which will aid in the development of high-quality manufacturing techniques and the usage of 3D printing for end-use production.