Stair Stepping Effect

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Pages: 3

[1] Investigate the so-called “stair-stepping” effect? What is the main machine parameter influencing this? Please illustrate your answer with a drawing.
Answer: Stair-stepping effect or staircase effect is a common phenomenon in all layer based manufacturing process. It cannot be completely eliminated but there are ways to reduce it. This effect could be observed by slicing a CAD model of the part.
Two main parameters influencing this effect are as follows:
• Layer Thickness
• Build Direction (Construction Angle) – They influence other features such as bonding strength and elongation too. Figure 1: Stair stepping effect on up-facing objects

Figure 2: Effect of Layer Thickness on Stair stepping effect

[2] Propose a quantitative way to
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So greater the volume of part within contour, higher is the speed gain. Since the parts are formed by gluing, there is uniformity in thermal and mechanical properties whereas these properties remain consistent for most of the part in Ultrasonic Consolidation.
2) Cost of equipment is cheaper and the process is simpler and it caused no environmental concern. It is necessary to coat the surface to prevent moisture absorption since it uses paper-based systems.
3) Since no internal stress is produced, the part could be directly used after the process and no post processing is required (mostly). For parts of smaller sizes de-cubing might be difficult. Hence it is challenging to maintain the shape of the part.
4) No support structure is required since the same machining material serves as a support. Type of materials that could be machined is limited.
5) Minimal chances of alignment issues/ delamination when compared to Ultrasonic Consolidation. And waste could be re-used and its minimal. Application is limited to particular industries while Ultrasonic Consolidation’s application is wide. Only thin layers could be used whereas relatively thicker layers could be used for Ultrasonic
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Please present your results in a table.
Joining techniques Temperature Filler Material Strength of Bond Material Compatibility Type of Bonding
Soldering Upto 450C Non-ferrous Weakest Usually metals are joined together Mechanical/ metallurgical bond
Brazing Upto 600C Nickel, Cobalt, etc Weaker than welding joints and stronger than soldering joints Metals are joined together Strong metallurgical bond
Welding 3800C Electrode Rod Strongest Metals or thermoplastics Fusion Bonding
Ultrasonic Welding 600C No filler metals Initial contact surface is to be minimum for excellent bonding Joining dissimilar metals Molecular bond

[5] Suppose you were trying to convince somebody the idea that AMF is a much more powerful and efficient format than STL. Please develop one (1) graph using selected data from the tables provided in Appendix X (Performance) in ISO/ASTM 52915 (found in pages 13-14). This can be with normal scales, log-normal or log-log (up to you). Provide the graph and write your punch-line for selling this idea in a maximum of two