An interactive approach towards the development of an additive manufacturing technology for railcar manufacturing

An interactive approach towards product development enables the creation of products which combine optimal performance with effective users' interaction. In this work, an additive manufacturing technology which is suitable for manufacturing internal and external accessories of a railcar was developed using an interactive approach. The mechanical design of the body kit, which consists of the frame vertex triangle, front threaded and smooth rods, NEMA 17 stepper motor, micro-switch and extruder, was done using the Autodesk Inventor (R) 2016 while the finite element analysis of its extruder was done using the Commercial Abaqus software 2018. Also, the electronics board which controls the 3D printing process comprises of the MELZI V2.0, a DIY shield board, USB to serial converter and Arduino micro controller. A software program using process G-code instruction in the Arduino micro controller in conjunction with MELZI board and additional circuit was employed to control the sensors used as input. During the performance evaluation, the 3D printing technology was used to produce the circular and non-circular gears. The results obtained indicate that an increase in the feed rate and nozzle diameter results in an increase in the speed of printing but with a reduction in the print quality and vice versa. Hence, the developed 3D printing technology offers the realistic possibility for easy and quick, production of products on demand, thus, enabling product development and customization which has the potential to boost innovation and foster more efficient use of resources.