3D printing, better known as Additive Manufacturing (AM) has attracted considerable interest over the last two decades and promises to gain even more importance in the near future. Additive manufacturing is poised to revolutionize the way products are designed, manufactured and distributed to end-users. However, the low productivity and the uncertainty of the mechanical properties of the objects produced still represent an important obstacle to its diffusion. Much work still needs to be done in this direction. A field in which the features of this technology promise significant benefits is the development of orthoses and prostheses. This thesis focuses on the design and development of custom 3D printed orthotic devices to heal radial head fractures. The main purpose is to create multi-material hand orthosis that can replace the traditional methods (by using plaster of paris) currently used for the treatment of upper limb fractures. The aim is to demonstrate the possibility of obtaining a completely customized orthosis, with complex properties through the use of a multi-material additive manufacturing technique. Additive manufacturing with multi material enables to print objects with two different materials at same time. Two immiscible materials (PLA, TPU) were chosen to give the orthosis a good trade-off between flexibility and rigidity. During the thesis, various geometries, print configurations, and process parameters were evaluated. All these parameters were used to perform an economic evaluation of the process and to make a comparison with the technology in use. Results show that AM technology allows to create complex geometries with multiple materials and with customizable properties. The orthoses manufactured are generally cheaper than traditional methods and are more compliant to the patient. Although start-up costs can be high, the cost of individual unit production is relatively low which makes AM integration in the field of O&P cost effective. This thesis also reviews different additive manufacturing processes, different materials that can be used in additive manufacturing, process parameters that effect the additive manufacturing processes and different kinds of fractures and their healing mechanisms in detail. The materials used were subjected to preliminary tests to evaluate their mechanical behavior under different conditions. These tests are done as a supplementary part of this thesis.
La stampa 3D, meglio nota come Additive Manufacturing (AM), ha suscitato un notevole interesse negli ultimi due decenni e promette di acquisire ancora più importanza nel prossimo futuro. La produzione additiva è pronta a rivoluzionare il modo in cui i prodotti vengono progettati, fabbricati e distribuiti agli utenti finali. Un campo in cui le caratteristiche di questa tecnologia promettono vantaggi significativi è lo sviluppo di ortesi e protesi. La bassa produttività, la scarsa qualità e l'incertezza delle proprietà meccaniche degli oggetti prodotti rappresentano ancora un ostacolo importante alla sua diffusione. Molto lavoro deve ancora essere fatto in questa direzione. Questa tesi si concentra sulla progettazione e lo sviluppo di dispositivi ortotici personalizzati stampati in 3D per curare le fratture. Lo scopo principale è quello di creare dispositivi multi-materiale in grado di sostituire quelli in gesso attualmente utilizzati per il trattamento delle fratture del braccio. L'obiettivo è dimostrare la possibilità di ottenere un oggetto completamente personalizzato, con proprietà complesse attraverso l'uso di una tecnica di fabbricazione additiva multi-materiale. La produzione additiva con più materiali consente di stampare oggetti con due materiali diversi contemporaneamente. Sono stati scelti due materiali immiscibili (PLA, TPU) per dare alle ortesi un buon compromesso tra flessibilità e rigidità. I materiali utilizzati sono stati sottoposti a test preliminari per valutare le loro caratteristiche di stampa, lavorabilità e comportamento meccanico in condizioni diverse. Durante la tesi sono state valutate varie geometrie, configurazioni di stampa e parametri di processo. Tutti questi parametri sono stati utilizzati per eseguire una valutazione economica del processo e per fare un confronto con le tecnologie in uso. I risultati mostrano come questa tecnologia possa consentire di creare geometrie complesse con materiali diversi e con proprietà personalizzabili. Le ortesi fabbricate sono generalmente più economiche rispetto ai metodi tradizionali di fabbricazione e sono più conformi al paziente. Sebbene i costi di avvio possano essere elevati, il costo della produzione di singole unità è relativamente basso, il che rende conveniente l'integrazione di AM nel campo della O&P.
Application of additive manufacturing technique in the design and manufacturing of hand orthoses with multi materials
VENUMBAKA, SAI ADVAITH
2018/2019
Abstract
3D printing, better known as Additive Manufacturing (AM) has attracted considerable interest over the last two decades and promises to gain even more importance in the near future. Additive manufacturing is poised to revolutionize the way products are designed, manufactured and distributed to end-users. However, the low productivity and the uncertainty of the mechanical properties of the objects produced still represent an important obstacle to its diffusion. Much work still needs to be done in this direction. A field in which the features of this technology promise significant benefits is the development of orthoses and prostheses. This thesis focuses on the design and development of custom 3D printed orthotic devices to heal radial head fractures. The main purpose is to create multi-material hand orthosis that can replace the traditional methods (by using plaster of paris) currently used for the treatment of upper limb fractures. The aim is to demonstrate the possibility of obtaining a completely customized orthosis, with complex properties through the use of a multi-material additive manufacturing technique. Additive manufacturing with multi material enables to print objects with two different materials at same time. Two immiscible materials (PLA, TPU) were chosen to give the orthosis a good trade-off between flexibility and rigidity. During the thesis, various geometries, print configurations, and process parameters were evaluated. All these parameters were used to perform an economic evaluation of the process and to make a comparison with the technology in use. Results show that AM technology allows to create complex geometries with multiple materials and with customizable properties. The orthoses manufactured are generally cheaper than traditional methods and are more compliant to the patient. Although start-up costs can be high, the cost of individual unit production is relatively low which makes AM integration in the field of O&P cost effective. This thesis also reviews different additive manufacturing processes, different materials that can be used in additive manufacturing, process parameters that effect the additive manufacturing processes and different kinds of fractures and their healing mechanisms in detail. The materials used were subjected to preliminary tests to evaluate their mechanical behavior under different conditions. These tests are done as a supplementary part of this thesis.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/150739