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    Supply chain landscape of 3D printed buildings. A stakeholder decision suppot framework
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2024-06-14) Ma J; Samarasinghe DAS; Rotimi JOB; Zuo K; Shrestha PP
    With the development of new construction technology, increasing attention is being paid to 3D printing due to its construction efficiency as well as its sustainability. Numerous researchers have determined its benefits in cost reduction, resource savings, safety assurance, etc. Although various advantages have been identified, there are limitations and challenges in technology implementation. Especially since it is a new construction method, 3D printing construction projects will have a very different supply chain compared to traditional projects. As part of a research programme investigating the 3D printing construction supply chain in a New Zealand context, this study systematically analysed the research about 3D printing adoption and supply chain challenges in the construction sector. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was adopted as the guideline for literature selection. PRISMA is designed to assist researchers in reporting the review research focus and methodology, and examining the findings from published literature. NVivo was then adopted to code and analyse the selected publications to gather the data necessary for our study. The literature was analysed from the perspectives of the research focus, research methods, and findings. Studies about 3D printing implementation, benefits and barriers, as well as its significance are also analysed. As a result, this research found existing research gaps, including the fragmented situation of management-related research in the 3D printing construction sector, insufficient research in top management for 3D printing construction implementation, and changes to supply chain management practices in 3D printing construction projects. A decision support system demo for supply chain management is drafted in this paper, which requires further study. The research outcome highlighted the existing studies in 3D printing construction implementation and supply chain, and initiated a research topic on supply chain decision making. The result contributes to the theoretical and practical development of 3D printing technology in the construction industry. This review paper also inspires future studies on supply chain frameworks and theoretical models.
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    A method to assess the application of additive manufacturing to inventory replenishment : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Master of Supply Chain Management at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2018) Fonseca Garcia, Raphael da
    Companies have historically struggled to deal with their stock, especially the long inventory tail. As most of the inventory management techniques that deal with slow-moving stock have proved to be rather inefficient, this research investigates the use of additive manufacturing to 3D print items on demand and therefore mitigate the inventory carrying and associated costs. This research has been applied to a Hydraulic Equipment Business in New Zealand, which was tested through an inequation that models the traditional manufacturing and 3D printing costs, yielding the ‘tipping point’ for the use of the 3D printing technology. Even though the results obtained herein were negative for this particular case regarding the use of additive manufacturing, this research has developed a methodology to assess the trade-off between traditional manufacturing and 3D printing and also provides insights into the characteristics of the inventory of the businesses that are most likely to benefit from the use of the technology.
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    3D printing a transposed design in biopolymer materials using an articulated robot and pellet-based extrusion : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for a degree of Master of Engineering in Mechatronics at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2016) Brooks, Byron
    The aim of this project was to develop a new method of 3D printing. This method is a mix between Fused Deposition Modelling and freeform printing, using a 6 degree-of-freedom articulated robot and a pellet-based extruder to mix and distribute the biopolymer, to create commercial quality thin-shelled parts with aesthetic aspects unique to the process and with a reduced amount of material wastage. There is the potential for many industries to benefit from this new technology. Initially this project is focused on applications for artists as thin-shelled designs rarely provide the physical properties required for functional parts. An artist has provided a design to test the printer. The hopper is designed to work with a range of different polymer pellets. It is based off a previous student’s design and mimics the operation of an injection moulder by pushing the pellets through a heating chamber with an auger. The robot controlling the movement of the platform is an ABB IRB120. This robot has six degrees-of-freedom that allows it to reach several positions that would otherwise be impossible with a Cartesian system. The IRB120 has a very high spatial accuracy and repeatability. The design’s original format is converted to a flattened 2D format and the lines are interpolated to produce a 2D set of points. The overlaps in the shapes are removed to reduce the number of times the nozzle traces over previous paths, which helps to keep the layer thicknesses the same. These shapes are filled in with points so the contours are not empty. The points are then projected onto a mathematical model of the platform to produce a 3D point cloud. Finally, these points are converted into data for the robot to read. The design data points stream to the robot, which interprets them on the fly. Many iterative changes and improvements were done to the hardware and software as the result of continuous testing of the process and analysis of the print. The pellet-based extruder is an elementary design with numerous variables that affect the resulting extrusion. After many design iterations and improvements to the extruder, the extruder can produce a continuous strand of material, with relatively constant flow. The software accurately converts a design from the given format into a path for the contours, and another path to fill the contours. These paths are projected onto a model of the moulded platform. Each point along the path is put through multiple affine transforms to generate a location and orientation for the end effector of the robot. The robot is moved by streaming each point to the robot one at a time. The extruder was controlled simultaneously to create a printed design. The printed design is geometrically correct. However, the width of the extrusion path needs to be improved to increase the accuracy of the design to the reference one. The current prints achieve the correct visual properties in the extrusion. However, they require a secondary process to improve the surface finish. This project has produced a new 3D printing process, mixing Fused Deposition Modelling and freeform printing. This process can be adapted to be used in a wide range of applications. It has also produced a low-cost, effective pellet-based extruder that can be used to test a range of different materials, and their effectiveness in being used for 3D printing.
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    Open-source conversion of Stratasys FDM Vantage X rapid-prototyping machine : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Mechatronics at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2014) Hare, George Graham
    3D Printing or Additive Manufacturing is quickly redefining how companies design and develop products (Maxey, 2014). Increasingly, with advances in technology and materials, end-use parts are now being manufactured. Wellington Drive Technologies Limited (WDTL), a world leading supplier of energy saving, electronically commutated motors (ECM) are based in Albany, Auckland. They use fused deposition modelling (FDM) to prototype new products and concepts. WDTL suffered a failure of a Stratasys FDM Vantage X machine used to 3D print prototype parts. The cost of rectifying the problem put the machine beyond economic repair. The machine was therefore gifted to Massey University, Albany. Mechanically the machine was in good working order, it made sense therefore to attempt to resurrect the machine for research purposes. However, due to the cost of OEM repairs, and the associated research limitations, it was decided that where possible, open-source solutions should be sought. The purpose of this dissertation is to prove the viability of replacing closedsource proprietary hardware and software solutions with open-source. The electronics and firmware were designed around the MakerBot Thing-O-Matic while ReplicatorG was used for the front end, all of which are open-source. Ironically on the 19th June 2013, almost a year after starting this project, Stratasys bought MakerBot, taking a big stake in the consumer based 3DPrinter market. Subsequent releases of Makerware (MakerBot's successor to ReplicatorG) have been made closed-source.
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    Rendering complex colour inside 3D printed foods : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Food Technology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2015) Kim, Sandra
    Three-dimensional (3D) printing refers to a group of digitally controlled, additive manufacturing technologies increasingly used to fabricate customised objects from a range of possible materials, including food ingredients, using a digital image file representing the object. A novel variation on 3D food printing is being developed to customise the appearance of foods with an embedded 3D colour image by the selective blending of primary colorants. This capability is beyond what is needed usually for the coloration of bulk, single food matrices. In this thesis, non-food techniques of colorimetric matching (used in computer match prediction) and colour gamut mapping (from cross-media colour reproduction), were investigated as potential methods for dye recipe computation by the new 3D colour food printer. The aim was to develop a model for transforming image RGB data to dye recipe data, taking into account the variable effects of food properties. The two techniques were applied to the problem of matching a set of standard tile colours using a set of primary colorants in model food substrates. Kubelka-Munk (K-M) blending equations underlying both techniques were developed for blends of Brilliant Blue, Ponceau 4R (red) and Tartrazine (yellow) food dyes when added to a microwave-baked cake and to four variants of a wheat starch gel. Validation of the model for the cake blends was shown the by ΔE*ab,10 differences between computed and measured L*10a*10b*10 colours falling within range of a visually acceptable match (three ΔE*ab,10 units). For some of the gel blends, the ΔE*ab,10 differences reached five units. Dye recipes computed by a modified colorimetric matching algorithm to match target tile colours with cake colours at times called for negative quantities, or totals that exceeded the legal limits for foods containing dyes, indicating that the target colour was outside the range (gamut) of the cake-dye system. In these recipes, individual negative dye quantities were increased to zero, and totals scaled back to within the legal limit, retaining relative dye proportions. This resulted in close differences between tile and cake before scaling (with computed ΔE*ab,10 values of less than three units for as many as eight of the twelve target colours) becoming much larger after scaling (up to 39 ΔE*ab,10 units), though visual inspection of the colour pairs suggested that the matches might be closer. The gamut of perceived colours from a coloured food is not only constrained by legal restrictions on dye addition, but dependent on the properties of the food itself, such as its background colour (seldom white) and the light-scattering effects of surface texture. Compared with colour images, foods are likely to have a more limited colour gamut, the size of which is expected to vary with changes in formulation and processing. Gamut mapping techniques were used to investigate the extent to which the target tile colours themselves needed to be scaled back before matching solutions and corresponding dye recipes could be computed. Using four samples of the gel that differed only in their level of (artificial) browning, including white, the impact of browning on the colour gamut was determined. Using the cake, solutions from gamut mapping were compared with those from colorimetric matching. A gamut of discrete colours is treated as a continuous volume in colour space. In the absence of a published gamut calculation for coloured foods, a technique was developed to compute a mesh of points on the colour gamut boundary. Boundary colours were computed using dye blends not exceeding the legal limit, and spaced such that ΔE*ab,10 did not exceed three units. This method was applied to the white (non-textured) gel containing dye blends, to generate a ‘base’ gamut. The absorption behaviour of each dye was found to be largely consistent among the white and browned gels which enabled quick computation of colour gamuts for the brown gels by substituting the absorption spectrum of a brown gel for that of the white in the K-M equation. The colour gamut was found to decrease in size and to shift position with increased gel browning. The dye blends that were used to compute the colour gamut boundary for the whitened gel were combined with the absorption spectrum for the cake to compute the gamut boundary for the cake colours. All colour gamuts were specific to the standard D65 illuminant and 10 degree standard observer. In the investigation of the effects of browning, colour gamut mapping began with the initial replacement of each tile colour with a colour from the white gel gamut. All colours were replaced gradually by a darker, and often less chromatic, colour, as the level of browning in the gel was increased. As a result of the reduction in gamut size with increased gel browning, the difference between tile colours and their replacement targets in each of the reduced gamuts was smaller for tile colours having ‘brown’ characteristics (such as Orange, Red and Yellow) than they were for blue-, pink- and green- coloured tiles. Larger increases in total dye quantity with increased gel browning were needed for the latter group of colours than for the former. For most colours an increase in the relative proportion of the darkest dye in the recipe was also needed. The actual dye quantities computed for each replacement colour depended on the availability of mesh points in the region of colour space in which the tile was located. Colour gamut mapping required a heavier computational load than the colorimetric matching technique to provide solutions for tile colours in the cake-dye gamut. Although not always giving solutions in the same angular region of colour space as the tile colours, colorimetric matching was able to produce similar ΔE*ab,10 differences between tile colour and best cake match as did colour gamut mapping, for not necessarily more or less total dye. Two forms of a generalised algorithm are proposed for the computation of dye recipes by the 3D colour food printer. One algorithm is modelled on a workflow for cross-media colour reproduction. A series of transformations that account progressively for the effect of individual characteristics of the food printing substrate on the achievable gamut from dye blends is incorporated into the main series of transformations that transcribes RGB image data to dye recipe data. In the other algorithm, modelled on colorimetric matching, it is the progressive effect of each individual characteristic on the light-absorption characteristics of the un-dyed food printing substrate that is accounted for, and incorporated into the main matching workflow.
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    The development of colour 3D food printing system : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Mechatronics at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2012) Millen, Caleb Ian
    Foods are becoming more customised and consumers want food that tastes great, looks great and is healthy. Food printing, a method of distributing food in a personalised manner, is one way to satisfy this demand. The overarching goal of this research is to develop the ability to print coloured images with food, but this thesis focuses on a subsection of that research. It aims to establish a broad base for future research in the area of food printing, present the design and development of mixing techniques applicable to food printing and finally use image processing to examine the distribution of colour in images likely to be printed. By developing and testing various components and systems of the existing food printer and by performing a broad review of relevant literature, future researchers will be able to progress topics identified as essential in this field. Photographs of samples mixed using selected mixing techniques were analysed in order to produce qualitative and quantitative results. Six sample images were processed in such a way that colour distribution values were able to be used to estimate the average distances a food printing machine head would have to move between successive deposited volume elements while using discontinuous flow. The results show each mixing technique tested has advantages and disadvantages, which make them more or less useful for different applications. Testing with static mixers and our oscillating mixer shows they are very capable of achieving complete mixing. However, the static mixing system used would be unable to achieve sufficient contrast between successive volume elements and the oscillating mixer needs development of operating mechanisms before it could be implemented. Mixing with our conical surface mixer showed it was unable to achieve complete mixing, but the novel technique has potential as a mixing technique if additions to the process are made. Results from processing the sample images showed the average distance was 3.26 pixels, which equates to 16.3mm with a 5x5x5mm volume element. For research to continue, an appropriate mixing technique will need to be selected with regard to the goals and application of the food printing system. The distance between volume elements was deemed acceptable so the oscillating mixer or conical surface mixer would be most appropriate for discontinuous flow while static mixers should be used if a continuous flow is required.
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    Partial Biodegradable Blend with High Stability against Biodegradation for Fused Deposition Modeling
    (MDPI AG, 11/04/2022) Harris M; Mohsin H; Potgieter J; Ishfaq K; Archer R; Chen Q; De silva K; Guen M-JL; Wilson R; Arif K
    This research presents a partial biodegradable polymeric blend aimed for large-scale fused deposition modeling (FDM). The literature reports partial biodegradable blends with high contents of fossil fuel-based polymers (>20%) that make them unfriendly to the ecosystem. Furthermore, the reported polymer systems neither present good mechanical strength nor have been investigated in vulnerable environments that results in biodegradation. This research, as a continuity of previous work, presents the stability against biodegradability of a partial biodegradable blend prepared with polylactic acid (PLA) and polypropylene (PP). The blend is designed with intended excess physical interlocking and sufficient chemical grafting, which has only been investigated for thermal and hydrolytic degradation before by the same authors. The research presents, for the first time, ANOVA analysis for the statistical evaluation of endurance against biodegradability. The statistical results are complemented with thermochemical and visual analysis. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) determines the signs of intermolecular interactions that are further confirmed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The thermochemical interactions observed in FTIR and DSC are validated with thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is also used as a visual technique to affirm the physical interlocking. It is concluded that the blend exhibits high stability against soil biodegradation in terms of high mechanical strength and high mass retention percentage.