Experimenting with Laser Cutters
& Rapid Prototypers
Dr. Jim Flowers
Technology
Education
Program
Ball State
University
Rapid Prototyping
Technology can
• Help your students make
professional-quality products
without all those skills
• Make a link between digital
designs and physical objects
• Allow students to make
successive changes to
designs, and then see the
effects of those changes
• Produce parts needed for
larger assemblies
Ball State’s Rapid Prototyping Lab
Technologies Include
3D Laser
Scanning
Laser Cutting & Engraving
CAD/CAM Milling
Computer Numerical Control
Turning (NC Lathe)
Fused
Deposition
Modeling
Color Solid Object
Printing
Other Technologies in the RP Lab
• Tensile tester
• Coordinate measuring machine
• Plastics granulator, drier, and filament
extruders
• Plastometers
• Vacuum formers
• Manual fabrication tools
But RP technologies can also
support student experimentation.
• They allow the user to control several
variables and perform repeated builds
changing only the levels of independent
variables.
• There is so much we really don’t know,
and experimentation can help us find the
answers.
For example: Optimizing
Laser Settings
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Power
Speed
Focal Point
Pulses per
inch
• Lines per
inch
An Experimental Approach to…
Everything
Orr, T., & Flowers, J. (2014). An experimental approach to… everything! Technology
& Engineering Teacher, 73(8), 8-12.
Determining the effect of FDM build
orientation on tensile strength (T. Orr)
Hey Jim, can you 3D print
onto cloth? (Rene Church)
• Kyle Samuels, a student
in a graduate course on
Inquiries into Rapid
Prototyping, at Ball State
found out.
Samuels, K., & Flowers, J. (In Press). Can your students 3D print
onto cloth? Technology and Engineering Teacher.
Failed
attempt on
100% cotton
with a simple
weave
Successful build test at
material’s surface
Denim
adhesion
strength
test
Post wash test
Can we make 3D
printer filament?
Raises the questions:
Orr, T., & Flowers, J. (In Press). Learning through plastic filament extrusion. Technology
and Engineering Teacher.
Can we
granulate
this
plastic?
Does it have
to be dried?
Is it extrudable?
What is its melt index?
Should we use
a low-cost
extruder?
or an industrial extruder?
Should we use a water bath?
What should the extrusion temperatures
and speed be?
What should
the tension
(RPM) be?
What new 3D printing parameters
will work with our extruded filament?
Can you use RP to create
Flexographic Image Carriers?
Dr. Renmei Xu
Flowers, J., & Xu, R. (April, 2011). Exploring a connection: Prototyping graphic image
carriers. Technology and Engineering Teacher e, 70(7), 1-6.
Xu, R. & Flowers, J. C. (2009). Flexographic platemaking using rapid prototyping
technologies. FlexoGlobal, 2 (1), 24-30.
Flexo- Image Carriers from
Powdered Solid Object
Printing?
Flexo- Image
Carriers from FDM?
Flexo- Image Carriers
from Laser Engraving?
Can you laser-etch
an intaglio plate?
Xu, R., Londt, S., & Flowers, J. (2013). The effects of laser-engraving settings on
cliché etch depth and pad printing quality. Journal of Print and Media Technology
Research, 2(1), 29-35.
Can you laseretch an intaglio
plate?
Can you laser-etch an intaglio plate?
Yes, but what are the effects of
laser-engraving settings on cliché
etch depth and pad printing quality?
Can lasers be used
to create stencils?
Xu, R., Londt, S. C., Kellogg, H. P. (2010).
Evaluation of different stencilmaking
methods for screen printing (pp. 228-242).
Sewickley, PA: Proceedings of TAGA 62nd
Annual Technical Conference.
Can lasers be used to create stencils?
Yes, but what is the effect of…
Can you Upcycle
with a laser?
Xu, R., Flowers, J. (2011). Engineering a
greener process: Laser cutter transforms
printing waste. Tech Directions, 71(2), 2023.
Can you Upcycle with a laser?
Can you Upcycle
with a laser?
Can you Upcycle with a laser?
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• New undergrad and grad class at Ball State:
• Green Prototyping & Upcycling, where
students
– Upcycle with laser cutters/engravers
– Upcycle with a vacuum former
– Design, prototype, and test products to promote
environmental sustainability
– Attempt to extrude their own 3D filament from postconsumer resins and 3D print with it
• May be used as an elective in our Master of
Arts in Technology Education
Assisting others in their research:
Kevin Barnes & Kamal Islam
• Scanned warbler model
• 3D printed 10 decoys
• Decoys were painted
and added to buckets
playing songs to attract
cerulean warblers to
nest.
Kevin Barns, 2014, Master of Science Thesis Project: Cerulean
Warbler Habitat Selections: Behavioral or Structural. Kamal
Islam, PhD, Advisor.
Photos of Kevin and Kamal courtesy of Kamal Islam at
http://kislam.iweb.bsu.edu/Cerulean%20Warbler%20Research.htm
So many experiments!
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Optimizing parameters
Effects of parameters on products
Properties based on build orientation
Finding the limits of the technology
Designing new 3D printer filament
Adding inserts during 3D printing
Adhesion, finishing, etc., of 3D printed parts
Testing out new processes
and many, many more…
Another presentation:
• Intersecting
Silhouettes
• Today, at the
STEM
Showcase
Experimenting with Laser Cutters
& Rapid Prototypers
Dr. Jim Flowers
Technology
Education
Program
Ball State
University
jcflowers1@bsu.edu