Mid Year Moderation Week

Although just coming back from a 3 week break, as the week goes by the levels of stress are visible through out the department. The attempt to ensure that you actually have something to show by Friday afternoon for moderation is prominent. At this point there is no time mess up or get frustrated with a piece (it is as if the metal is able to detect your frustrations and then you just land up with further problems). Coming to terms with the amount of time left for this year and the expectations that should be met, something which seems almost impossible to meet (however, I aim to towards it) there is this coal powered train that begins to run through your veins, where all you can do is zone out into your own world and focus on your work. And that's how work gets done!

 

As Moderation nears, working day and night and putting in long hours was essential, ensuring that you have covered all basis from design to manufacture. During the course of the week I managed to put together (not polished) a couple of pieces and began to work on the following piece. Before the break although I had renderings and 'ídeas' of what my pieces would look like I still had my doubts of how they would be assembled, but after the break, that coal powered train was full steam ahead. I knew what I was doing and how I was going to go about it, not to say I didn't encounter any issues, because indeed I did.

 

Below are the pieces assembled, keep in mind the pieces have not been finished off yet.

Space is IMPORTANT! one might think but this is just moderation but they stand corrected, the way you put your work out on display is a display on yourself as a designer or artist. you can not simply just lay your work there and leave it, no, you EXHIBIT your work, the way you would want outsiders to view (given your availability of resources of course. 

below is the layout I though would best enhance each aspect of the display.

 

 

 

On the side you will notice white models: These models are nylon 3D prints which were printed over the break, as you will also notice is the resemblance they have to the first cad renderings previously posted.

Below are the nylon prints up close

 

 
Moderation... I MADE IT OUT ALIVE !! We all have ways to improve things, and getting an opinion from those who haven't seen the work prior allows for an open mind to view and give out constructive criticism. The way forward from here is then uncovered.

Material Durability

"Materials matter. They are the stuff that constitutes everything around us."

AM technology was originally developed around polymeric materials, waxes and paper laminates. Subsequently there has been introduction of composites, metals and ceramics. CNC machining can be used for soft materials, like medium density fibreboard, machine able forms, machine able waxes and even some polymers (Lipson & Kurman, 2013). Materials have from the beginning of the technology been an important driving force for development. Like traditional manufacturing processes, the initial choice of material was tied to the constraints of the process (Lipson and Kurman, 2013). 

Hardness is defined as the resistance of a material to deformation, particularly permanent deformation, indentation, or scratching. Hardness is purely a relative term and should not be confused with wear and abrasion resistance of plastic materials. Since plastic materials vary considerably with respect to hardness, one type of hardness test is not applicable to cover the entire range of hardness properties encountered commonly known as Moh’s scale of hardness, the Rockwell hardness test and the Durometer hardness test (Kutz, 2002). Below a hardness scale of plastics:



In practical the materials that i explore during the course of the year are silver, nylon and resin. As silver being common in both contemporary and commercial jewellery, this dissertation will therefore explore the strengths and weaknesses of both nylon and resin. Nylon/ Polyamide: The generic name for all long-chain fibre-forming polyamides with recurring amide groups. Characteristically polyamides (nylons) are very resistant to wear and abrasion, have good mechanical properties even at elevated temperatures, have low permeability to gases and have good chemical resistance. Advantages such as: Excellent surface finish even when reinforced, Strength, Stiffness and chemical resistance to hydrocarbons. Nylon however has limitations such as high water absorption and poor chemical resistance to strong acids and bases. Nylon has high self-bonding properties that prevent the layers from de-laminating when put under tension. It does not have warping issues, so no heated print bed or cooling fans are needed. Nylon has the ability to be created in any colour as it is very easy to dye. Nylon is also known to be inexpensive as well as most grades of nylon do not emit fumes (Spadaro, 2013).

According to Nerginer (2012) the advantages of resin based-based 3D printers have also presented themselves as follows: For most applications the Ultra Violet or visible light curing method is much faster and far superior to any other rapid modelling methods, it has a better resolution then most 3D materials, it uses minimal moving parts, and prototypes made by this system are strong enough to be machined and can be used as master patterns for injection moulding , thermoforming, blow moulding, and various metal casting processes. Along with the above resin based 3D printers also propose for disadvantages such as although the process can produce a wide variety of shapes, it is often very expensive. The cost of photo-curable resin ranges from $80 to $210 per litre, and the cost of the machines are higher than popular low-level printers. However cost will be reduced as more people adopt the resin-based 3D printing system.

Computer Aided Design

Computer Aided Design (CAD) has influenced my work tremendously from beginning to end. The process develops from the  concept and slowly with the help of hand drawn designs slowly begin to develop into various pieces, CAD allows you to take into consideration technical aspects of your pieces for manufacture as well, what you are capable of making at possibly how you would go about each component. Cad not only allows one to figure out technical difficulties but also design and aesthetic difficulties, to view if a piece will balance correctly, weight evenly, etc. CAD reveals ideas that the human brain won’t always think of without seeing it or understanding the capabilities of CAD. With vast intricate designs all over the world, CAD is slowly but surely becoming main stream.

Below is a demonstration of how CAD has influenced my work slowly.

            

         

                 

Piece 2

Process

After the battle with my first piece, I continued with my second. I would go back to my first piece at a later stage.

The Design Process.

The design of the piece went through multiple changes. and various design development from something that although 3D was in actual fact quite two dimensional. After playing around with it for a while going back and forth though design and what was coming from my first piece, I eventually discovered a way in which created the piece to become more volumetric.

Figure 1 CAD Drawings

 

 The Manufacturing Process.

After Prepping the necessary wire needed.

1.00mm square wire and 0.5mm round wire, along with granules. the process slowly began.

Using the CAD technical drawings, it allowed me to create the main structure fairly simply and quickly with the main structures complete for both earrings in a day and a half, being able to start on the "molecule" design fairly soon allows me to figure out any further complications I might have.

    Figure 2 Exterior Structure        Figure 3 Inner and outer structure

Figure 4 Bending Structure        Figure 5 Placing Structure         Figure 6 Soldering Structure

The above figures are images of the main structure being built and put together.

The molecule design inspired from the crystal  lattice structure of crystaline structures is then applied to the main structures before applying them in a 3 dimensional form

Figure 7 and Figure 8 Development of molecular lattice.

Figure 9 Formation of molecular lattice in main structures.

Figure 10 Granules joining the wire  for the "molecule bonds" to join.

This piece is currently still under manufacture.

 

History Of CAD in South Africa

History Of CAD in South Africa

As with all nations, South Africa (RSA) has a unique set of circumstances and challenges. Emerging from economic isolation and stagnation, South Africa has some highly developed regions but also some pockets of poorly developed infrastructure. Therefore, developing countries can learn from the way it has sought to modernise its industries and to look for guidance. In relation to technology, South Africa has embraced rapid prototyping (RP) as a method of revolutionising its industry. According to du Preez et al., (2006), the first RP systems were installed in South Africa in 1994. Since then, its uptake has advanced rapidly.

The use of RP and related technologies, such as computer aided design (CAD) and rapid tooling (RT) has grown rapidly in the RSA. Between 2005 and 2006, the total number of RP machines installed doubled (Wohlers, 2006, 2007). Growth slowed down between 2007 and 2008 to around 24% and 21% respectively (Wohlers, 2008, 2009). In recent years, RP and RT technologies have been joined by AM as designers began to embrace the advantages that could bring geometric freedom in small batch production. A key enabler for the uptake of AM has been the broadening of the technologies available, such as Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) which was introduced to the Central University of Technology (CUT), Free State in 2006. Practitioners and researchers have been pushing boundaries every year, with new developments and case studies being reported. Although all of the major universities have a strong presence in manufacturing research, AM-related research is being driven by a minority (39%), whilst some more have AM facilities used to support other manufacturing research, giving a total of 48% of universities having AM facilities in-house.

Figure 1  Basic 3D Printing Machine

The rise of 3D printers has seen a wide variety of industries becoming involved in additive manufacture, probably as a result of South Africa’s National R&D Strategy which has attempted to draw SMMEs (Small, micro and medium-sized enterprises) into the country’s Innovation network. This trend illustrates that technology transfer programmes from universities to industry with government support have paid off.

Whereas more universities in South Africa are becoming involved in RP/AM research, the University of Stellenbosch and the CUT are still the current leaders. Research has been focused towards new materials and improving machine accuracy. Research teams have also investigated novel industrial applications where little or no previous research had been done.

Medical applications involving the use of RP techniques have advanced within South Africa through a combination of CT and MRI scanning, reverse engineering, RP/AM and computer numerical control (CNC) machining. Collaborative development work between the CUT and a team of surgeons and biomedical engineers have resulted in several innovative projects. They include patient-specific X-ray shielding masks (de Beer et al, 2005b), customised manufacture of medical prosthetics (Truscott et al, 2007), elbow implants fabricated using CNC (Figure 5) and cranial implants produced directly out of Titanium alloys using Selective Laser Melting at CUT, as reported by Drstvensek, et al. (2009).

For medical applications, RP technologies were used because of the relatively low mechanical stresses presented and also because of the high aesthetic demands that were required. Current research is now focused towards Direct Laser Sintering of Titanium that would yield benefits in terms of material utilisation, optimised geometry and reduced lead-time. Another area of research developed from a collaborative partnership between CUT and Loughborough University in the United Kingdom concerned the application of customer interaction with 9 functional prototypes (CIFP). It saw the development of a new range of motion analysis accessories produced directly from Laser Sintering.

The use of RP technologies have increased the fidelity of physical models in terms of aesthetics, ergonomics and functionality. The results have facilitated greater customer participation during product development and allowed ideas to be tested to reduce the risk of failure in the market (Campbell et al, 2007).

Figure 2 3D Printed prosthetic

The increasing choice of materials available has positively influenced industry‟s acceptance of AM, According to Professor Dimitri Dimitrov, Head of the University of Stellenbosch’s Laboratory for Rapid Product Development (LRPD), the use of technologies such as 3D printing is cost-effective, versatile, fast and easy to operate (Dimitrov, 2006). In addition, its accuracy, strength, surface finish, build speed and cost, allow a good price to performance ratio. The findings are in-line with Haskins (2008) who also reported that digital technologies integrated with 3D printing enable a fast, affordable way to produce physical prototypes directly from CAD data.

Figure 3 Materials

South Africa‟s technology transfer strategy has been generally successful with more companies embracing RP/AM technology and buying machines. Indeed, the growth of RP purchases within industry is now well above that seen in academia (de Beer, 2008). Most of these have been 3D printers but some high end systems have also been purchased. At the same time, the growth in the use of digital tools such as CAD and RP software is evidenced by increased system sales, as seen by Materialise for their offerings. Further growth in the use of CAD could be expected if its use within South African schools become mainstream. This is one of the aims spearheaded by the DesigNation initiative launched in 2005 by the National Product Development Centre (NPDC) of the CSIR. However, the NPDC ceased to exist due to internal restructuring of the CSIR, and the initiative continued with only limited success until 2007.