First 3D Print
Author: Ross Harper | Major: Industrial Engineering
My name is Ross Harper, and I am an industrial engineering major at the University of Arkansas. My mentor’s name is Dr. Haitao Liao with the department of industrial engineering. I conducted research during the Spring semester of 2022. I plan to continue my research in the fall of 2022 and adapt it into an honors thesis in Spring 2023.
My research involves investigating the effects of various designs on the physical properties of 3D-printed watch bands. These properties include tensile strength, cost, and comfortability. Variations in design include length, presence of perforations, and width. Variations are also present in the 3D-printing process, including layer thickness, infill pattern, and infill percentage. My research uses a factorial experimental design to study how combinations of these variations affect the properties of printed bands. Furthermore, using factorial design can shed light on any interactions or correlations that may be present between the factors.
The properties studied for this research are tensile strength, cost, and comfortability. These metrics will be recorded for each band combination and used for analysis once the experiment is done. Along with determining how the factors affect the properties, my research will determine what the best band design is that minimizes cost and maximizes strength and comfortability. This research is potentially applicable in the real-world to help aspiring entrepreneurs in the 3D-printing business. They may be able to use this research for ideas on how to efficiently print products or inventions, not limited just to watch bands. 3D-printing is a quickly growing industry and market, and this research would be useful in knowing what designs are best to create quality products at the lowest cost.
I chose my topic by taking an honors research class given by Dr. Kelly Sullivan, a faculty member of the industrial engineering department. In the class, several members of the industrial engineering faculty spoke to us about their past research and in what fields their research focuses. Dr. Liao’s presentation was very interesting to me because his research combines industrial engineering techniques with hands-on experimentation. I decided to meet with him, and we ultimately decided on my current research topic for exploration.
Thus far in this research, I have learned that 3D-printing is a very in-depth application that has not been fully explored or utilized. There are essentially an infinite number of things that can be printed using this technology and several different ways they can be printed. Items can be printed using various layer thicknesses, infill patterns, and infill percentages. Naturally, I saw that there are several combinations of these factors, and that exploration of these combinations would be interesting and insightful for research. In fact, one challenge thus far has been that there are too many combinations to fully explore given the scope of my research. Dr. Liao helped me overcome this challenge by suggesting that I use factorial design, which allows exploration of more combinations than are tested using statistical techniques such as center points.
My faculty mentor, Dr. Liao, has helped me narrow down the scope of my research to allow for better exploration of the topic. He helped me develop an initial plan for my experimental design and what factors would probably be most important to include. He has also helped me obtain access to a 3D-printing lab, a printer, and printing materials. Dr. Kelly Sullivan was also very helpful in guiding me through the research selection and proposal processes. Dr. Chase Sullivan helped order a new printer and materials to use for my research experiment.
In the coming months, I hope to finish the experimentation and analysis portions of my research. I will then use my analysis to adapt this research into a thesis. Thus far, my research has been interesting and a good learning experience and I am excited to keep exploring.