Category: Case Studies

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Case Studies

think3D helped Indian Navy solve its pressing problem

3D Printing is a revolutionary technology that is going to transform the way product manufacturing is done in future. There is no perfect illustration for the same than the recent project think3D has done for Indian Navy to solve Navy’s long pending need for quick replacement of centrifugal pump impellers onboard the ships.

WHAT IS AN IMPELLER

Impeller is a rotating component of a centrifugal pump which transfers energy from the motor that drives the pump to the fluid being pumped by accelerating the fluid outwards from the center of rotation. The velocity achieved by the impeller transfers into pressure when the outward movement of the fluid is confined by the pump casing.

In simple words, it is a component used to pump liquids from a lower elevation to a higher elevation. In ships it is used to transfer liquid from sea to the various sections of the ship for regular water needs. The impellers come in different shapes and sizes depending on the amount of liquid to be pumped and these rotate at very high speeds for long periods.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Major problem Navy is facing is the breakdown of these impellers due to displacement of the eye of impeller during rotation and due to foreign particles in the sea hitting the impeller. This is a common occurrence esp. when these impellers rotate at high speeds for longer time periods. Replacement parts for these impellers have to be manufactured using sand casting process and it takes around 3 months turn-around time to manufacture a new impeller. Each ship has multiple such pumps and thus multiple such impellers and constant breakdowns of these are creating a major impediment to Navy in carrying out their regular tasks. Navy is looking for an alternative solution where these impellers can be produced quickly and at a lower cost of ownership.

 

OUR SOLUTION

Vizag Navy has reached to think3D for solution to their problem. think3D team spent few days with the Navy team to understand the problem statement in detail, visited the ships to see in real various forces acting on the impellers and collected few data sheets on material properties required and boundary conditions. Based on the initial discussions, think3D has come up with few steps to solve the problem as illustrated below.

3D SCANNING & REVERSE ENGINEERING

As a first step, think3D did 3D Scanning & Reverse Engineering of the impeller using its state of art 3D Scanning & Reverse Engineering facility. think3D used EinScan Pro+ 3D Scanner to scan the impeller and used CREO to create the CAD model based on the 3D scanned data.

FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS

Using ANSYS software, think3D did FEA analysis of the impeller by using the boundary conditions and changing the material properties to see which material and which 3D Printing process best fits the bill. Various materials like nylon composites, glass filled nylon, PA12, other regular plastics are tested for suitability. One most important requirement for the impeller material is damping property. Damping is the ability of the material to convert vibrational energy into other forms of energy (generally heat) without the part breaking apart. Also, the part should have elasticity to withstand the vibrations. This ruled out various high strength materials as they are highly brittle and we finalized one particular (confidential) material for the part as it has good damping property and elasticity.

CAD DATA MODIFICATION

In the pump design, a metal rod is inserted into the eye of the impeller and this metal rod gives the impeller the required torque for rotating the impeller. Since the material is of plastic, metal rod shall quickly eat away the part. To avoid this issue additional material is added at the eye of the impeller. This additional material will be then machined in CNC and metal bushings will be inserted.

3D PRINTING OF IMPELLER

think3D used MJF technology from HP to 3D Print the part. The settings are thoroughly analyzed and modified to print the part with desired mechanical properties. The part is then CNC machined and metal bushing is inserted to create an interface between metal rod and plastic component. The part is tested in the real environment and it seems working fine for the desired number of hours.

Left – Original; Right – 3D Printed Replica

 

CONCLUSION

A part that would take 3 months to manufacture just took 2 days to manufacture using 3D Printing and also the total cost of ownership is 40% lower for 3D Printed part when compared to traditionally manufactured part. Another add-on benefit of 3D Printing the impeller is reduction in overall weight. The actual metal impeller used to weight 8 kgs to 9 kgs whereas the 3D Printed one weighed just 1 kg. This would reduce the overall weight of the ship leading to better fuel efficiency.

NEXT STEPS:

With the successful completion of 3D Printed impeller, think3D is now building a digital repository of impellers for Indian Navy. Once the repository is built, think3D shall 3D Print the required impeller on demand and supply to the Navy, a supply chain management process unforeseen so far for physical goods.

OUTLOOK:

This case study perfectly illustrates how 3D Printing coupled with 3D Scanning can be hugely beneficial for organizations in multiple departments. Spare parts management is a major cost component for many organizations. With 3D Scanning, a digital repository of spare parts can be maintained and the required component can be printed on demand leading to huge cost savings. Secondly, companies can easily develop lower cost alternatives to the existing parts. If you have any 3D Printing related requirements, feel free to contact us at info@think3d.in

 

 

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Case Studies

The perfect memento made possible with 3D printing!

Brief overview

The charm of personalized mementoes compared to the regular available ones from the market is not comparable. One of our clients wanted to gift a miniature model of a priest as a part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations. They thought of presenting a unique memento but  didn’t have an idea that how to make a model and get the final output. So they shared the inputs to think3d team to make a memento.

Challenges

Client and his team were unsure of the output in a very limited time. Also, they had a lot of concepts in mind and were doubtful about the final output when fabricated in reality. Also, since it is a skilled work, they were hesitant due to the fact that it will be too much dependent on the artist, with no time for rework.

Solutions and execution

Designers at think3d developed the rough ideas/ concepts in to 3D models for feedback. Once the idea was frozen, they went on to start developing the virtual model with more details including the material textures, so that the client can decide on the actual treatment of the model. With inputs like photos and postures, the team developed the digital model that features the anatomy and posture of the Asst. General’s memento and also created the required 3D rendering to the model. After multiple iterations and approval from the client especially on the 3D sculpting, 3D models were created using rapid prototyping process like Fused Deposition modeling (FDM). At last painted to the model and enclosed it in a beautiful see through box, exactly as shown in virtual rendering.

3D Sculpting

Image reference of the Asst. General (front and side views) were taken as the reference to develop the 3D sculpting and modeling. Care is taken to retain the same expression in both pics.  3D views were then developed and sent for approval. Good care has been taken to retain the anatomy, proportions and expression in the model.

3D Rendered model

3D rendering was an essential part of the project. After completion of 3D model, it was treated with multiple material compositions and was finalized for a silver and gold look. Detailing to the last level, including the base color and sizes were done before hand at the design level itself, so that there are no surprises in the end.

Result

Both the bust and hands are 3Dprinted and coated with Gold and glossy Silver colors. Finally, assembled the model in an acrylic box and enhanced the output by adding customized features based on profile of customers.

The neatly finished memento was successfully completed within 2 weeks and we have delivered beyond the client expectations. A neatly packed gift was made ready by the time they came to pick up the memento. The client and his team were really happy with the memento and the event also grand success. The client and his team were very happy and appreciated our timely services. They were very happy for being able to present a memorable gift, which made the event a great success.

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Case Studies

The reliable route for product development

3d printing prototyping
3d printing prototyping

Brief overview

THREE STICKS is a board game that takes geometry to the next level. Players are challenged to think creatively and use only three types of sticks to create geometric shapes. In each turn, players add two sticks to the board and earn points for the shapes created. While trying to figure out geometric shapes, players begin to realize how shapes are interconnected and how easily a big, complex shape can be broken into small, simpler shapes.

The Challenge

The game’s beauty lies in pushing the players to think creatively and tryout multiple combinations. This means, the sticks and the pinning holes locking mechanism has to be accurate and restrict random moves.

Pramod, the brain behind this game, cannot take changes in this one aspect. Hence, he approached the think3D team for initial prototypes to test out all possible combinations and lock the game before going for mass production.

think3D team helped the creative game developer by creating crisp and accurate prototypes in SLS process using nylon material. All necessary clearances required for 3D printing were taken care of, in the design phase.

The freebies

To make the game launch more interesting and viral, the three sticks team wanted to have a custom pen stand as a freebie, given to first set of customers. Though the idea is great, it will cost huge amount if they go for traditional process. Here again, think3D team came for support and designed attractive pen stands bearing the logo, and fabricated the special stands in small quantities using FDM 3D printing in thermo plastics. This ensured fast, economical, on demand fabrication or items as and when the orders flow in.

Result

The game was first launched on indiegogo crowdfunding platform to great reviews and ended up crossing the funding goal kept by the team very quickly. The game went on to be one of the fast moving board games on ecommerce platforms like amazon. The team is very happy in coming out with a flawless product, and the with the provision of fine tuning the design at the prototype stage using 3D Printing. Needless to say, the 3D printed freebies given to first set of customers were instant hit.

You can visit kitki(dot)in for a range of board games the young team has developed.

 

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Case Studies

Reverse engineering a cooker handle

3D Scanner Handle
3D Scanner Handle

Introduction

3D Printing & 3D Scanning helps in reverse engineering of various products. This enables growth and provides a clear competitive advantage to companies incorporating reverse engineering technology.

Here is a case study on how 3D Printing & 3D Scanning help cooking & cutlery industry. It is very common to see the cookware handle breaking down. In many such cases we have to replace the entire cookware as the spare handle isn’t available. This is more so common when the product reaches the end of its life cycle. With the help of reverse engineering we can actually create a replica of the handle. Below case study illustrates the same.

Case Study

This case study illustrates the advantage of 3D Scanning and 3D Printing over conventional processes in Crockery and Cutlery industry. Here , by taking an existing cooker-handle as reference , we create a new cooker-handle with a few design modifications.

(a) Original Product:

Below is the original product that we are going to scan and reverse engineer.

Original Handle

(b) Pre-processing:

In this stage, the component is made ready for 3D Scanning by painting the cooker-handle with a removable spray. This process helps avoid light reflections and enhances accuracy.

Time taken for pre-processing: 45 minutes 

Handle Preprocessing

(c) 3D Scanning:

Here, the handle is scanned using a 3D Scanner. The 3D model of the handle obtained from scanning is used for further modifications.

Time taken for 3D Scanning: 30 minutes

3D Scanning

(d) Re-Designing

Here, the 3D model from the scanning is exported into appropriate designing software to modify the scan to add pattern for better grip.

Time taken for re-designing: 90 minutes

Handle Redesigning

(e) Prototyping

The re-designed cooker-handle is printed using 3D Printers.

Time taken for 3D Printing: 180 minutes

Rapid Prototyping

The entire exercise took less than 6 hours from inception to prototype of a new design.

Adopting these technologies into your process gives you flexibility at a fraction of cost to experiment with new designs as the turnaround time is reduced from weeks to hours.

How think3D can help you adopt these technologies in your company?

Think3d – India’s largest 3D printing platform – partners with you and aids in enabling you to use these technologies to your advantage. In addition to providing sales and services of 3D printers and scanners that suit your need and budget, we also provide 3D Designing, 3D Scanning and 3D printing services. Our highly qualified team will train you in using this equipment ‘in – house’ and our dedicated support team makes sure that your equipment is always up and running.

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Case Studies

3D Printing makes it easy for Ezycook

Introduction

Rapid Prototyping is one major application of 3D Printing. This technology can be used to quickly bring any design to life in the shortest possible time. EzyCook, a startup delivering fresh and ready-to-cook recipes opted for 3D printing to test the packaging material designs. After few iterations based on 3D prints, the final designs are sent for tooling & mass production

Business Model

The Business Model EzyCook develops fresh and ready-to-cook recipe packs to help all those people who do not have sufficient time to cook food in traditional methods. They aim at saving the time in food preparation. Ezycook’s recipe packs are designed to help you overcome the common pain-points and make thecooking experience of customers Easy, Convenient and Fun !

The Perfect Packaging

Shashank, the passionate founder of EzyCook, leaves no stone unturned when it comes to delivering the perfect product to the market. For fresh food delivery companies, he knows that packaging is of quintessential importance. He took extra care and developed 2 different versions of 3D models for the container mold. To take the final call, he turned to 3D printing for getting the physical prototypes in his hand.

Solution & Execution

  • think3D team worked with Ezycook’s designer and worked on the thickness issues to develop a 3D printable file
  • Both the versions are printed in ABS plastic and given to the client for testing and feedback purposes.
  • Based on the feedback, the design was further edited and final versions were printed before sending the file to tooling.

Results

With the help of 3D printed prototypes, Ezycook founder was able to

  • Do fitment, aesthetic and functional testing
  • Do A/B market acceptance testing
  • Do Design level changes before the final mold

Ezycook team was able to take an informed decision with the help of 3D printing and could do changes at the design level itself with the help of 3D printing. Think3d team facilitated the next process by helping in creating a mold for thermoforming for 100000 pieces.

 

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Case Studies Learning Center

How 3D Printing & 3D Scanning helps your business

How 3D Printing & 3D Scanning helps your business

3D Printing & 3D Scanning together brings down the cost of bringing a new product into market
drastically. Below are certain advantages
● 3D Scanning helps in reverse engineering of existing products. New designs and models
can be created in no time from the existing models at a fraction of designing costs and
time
● 3D Scanning helps in inspecting your finished products for design and dimensional
consistencies.
● 3D Printing enables quick and cost-effective prototyping of your designs. 3D Printed
physical models can be presented to your customers for demonstrations and for market
research way before commencing production.
● 3D Printing helps in avoiding costs due to die/cast errors.

What is 3D Scanning?

3D scanning is the process of converting physical objects into digital models. Rather than designing products from scratch, physical objects can be scanned to obtain digital models. The digital models can be used for modifications helping you save on designing time, costs and effort.

What is 3D Printing?

3D Printing helps create your prototypes directly from the digital models. Unlike the traditional manufacturing processes, a single physical object can be produced without a need for die/cast helping you avoid huge costs and turnaround time. In cases where creating a die/cast is necessary, Rapid prototyping using 3D printings helps avoid Molding/Casting rejections.

Solution & Execution

  • think3D team created the accurate 3D virtual model of the affected area was created from the Dicom images.
  • The part for which the mold needs to be manufactured was generated using modeling software.
  • The virtual model was signed off by the doctor through email.
  • A 3D printed template (mold) was created using additive manufacturing technique and sent to the hospital

Case Study:

This case study illustrates the advantage of 3D Scanning and 3D Printing over conventional processes in Hardware industry. By taking an existing door handle as reference, we create a new door handle with a few design modifications.

1) Existing Product:

2) Pre-processing:

In this stage, the component is made ready for 3D Scanning. The door-handle is painted using a removable spray to avoid light reflections and enhance accuracy.

Time taken for pre-processing: 30 minutes

3) 3D Scanning:

Here, the handle is scanned using a 3D Scanner. Once the model is 3D scanned it is imported into a design software for further modifications

Time taken for scanning: 30 minutes

4) Re-designing:

Here, the 3D model from the scanning is exported into appropriate designing software to modify the design as required.

Time taken for redesigning : 30 minutes

5) Rapid Prototyping:

The re-designed door-handle is printed using 3D Printers.

Time taken for 3D printing : 90 minutes

6) Die Casting:

This prototype is then used to cast the re-designed handle. The mould used for casting can be used for mass producing the new handle.

Time taken for sand casting & machining : 180 min

The entire exercise took around 6 hours from inception to a creating a ready – to -use Door handle

Adopting these technologies into your process gives you flexibility at a fraction of cost to experiment with new designs as the turnaround time is reduced from weeks to hours.

How think3D can help you adopt these technologies in your company?
Think3d – India’s largest 3D printing platform – partners with you and aids in enabling you to use these technologies to your advantage . In addition to providing sales and services of 3D printers and scanners that suit your need and budget, we also provide 3D Designing, 3D Scanning and 3D printing services. Our highly qualified team will train you in using this equipment ‘in – house’ and our dedicated support team makes sure that your equipment is always up and running.

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Case Studies

Accurate topology for Solar Park Planning with 3D Printing

Brief Overview

3D Printing can be used to create miniature scale models of mega structures & topologies. APSPCL (Andhra Pradesh Solar Power Corporation Limited) wanted an accurate model of the installation site to help in operations and in easy demonstration of the location to key stakeholders. A digital topology is created using coordinates and is 3D printed at 1:4250 scale.

Client Background

Andhra Pradesh Solar Power Corporation Pvt Ltd (APSPCL) is a Joint venture between SECI (Solar Energy Corporation of India), APGENCO (Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation Limited) and NREDCAP (New & Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Ltd.) It has been formed for development of Solar Park in the newly formed state of Andhra Pradesh.

The Project

APSPCL has taken up the task of setting up 1500 MW solar park at NP Kunta mandal, Ananthapram District of Andhra Pradesh in two phases. The MD. Of APSPCL wanted an accurate model of the site with 1:4250 scale, which will help in planning the operations and demonstrating it to the key stake holders accurately. During the execution of the project their team came up with a few indigenous solutions to cut down the time and cost of setup. He wanted to showcase these with the help of the 3D model.

Solution & Execution

  • think3D team collected the coordinates from the APSPCL team, and came up with accurate 3D topology in STL format
  • The 3D contours were then divided into multiple blocks and printed separately using FDM 3D printers.
  • With inputs from APSPCL team, detailed features like cable racks, towers, canals and panels were developed to the scale.
  • With the help of an in house artisan team all the blocks were assembled, treated with colors as per satellite images and onsite pictures. The developed features were assembled, and all features were labeled.

Results

At the end of this entire exercise, a highly accurate and detailed scale model was developed, which was installed on site at the field project office. The model proved to be a great tool for APSPCL team for accurate execution of plans and effective communication to stake holders and vendors.

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Case Studies

How 3D Printing & 3D Scanning helps your business

How 3D printing and scanning are helping revolutionize ‘Crockery & Cutlery’ Industry

  • 3D scanning helps in reverse engineering of existing products – New designs and models can be created in no time from the existing models at a fraction of designing costs and time
  • 3D scanning helps in inspecting your finished products for design and dimensional consistencies.
  • 3D printing enables quick and cost-effective prototyping of your designs. The 3D printed physical models can be presented to your customers for demonstrations and for market research way before commencing production.
  • 3D printing helps in avoiding costs due to die/cast

What is 3D Scanning and 3D printing ?

3D scanning is the process of converting physical objects into digital models. Rather than designing products from the scratch, the physical objects can be scanned to obtain digital models. The digital models can be used for modifications helping you save on  designing time, costs and effort.

3D Printing helps create your prototypes directly from the digital models. Unlike the traditional manufacturing processes, a single physical object can be produced without a need for die/cast helping you avoid huge costs and turnaround time. In cases where creating a die/cast is necessary, Rapid prototyping using 3D printings helps avoid Molding/Casting rejections.

CASE  STUDY

This case study illustrates the advantage of 3D Scanning and 3D Printing over conventional processes in Crockery and Cutlery industry. 

Here , by taking an existing cooker-handle as reference , we create a new cooker-handle with a few design modifications.

The original product

1) Pre-processing:

In this stage, the component is made ready  for 3D Scanning by  painting the cooker-handle with a removable spray. This process helps avoid light reflections and enhances accuracy.

Time taken for pre-processing: 45 minutes

2) Scanning:

Here,  the handle is scanned using a 3D Scanner. The 3D model of the handle obtained from scanning  is used for further modifications.

Time taken for scanning: 30 minutes

3) Re-designing:

Here, the 3D model from the scanning is exported into appropriate designing software to modify the scan to add pattern for better grip.

Time taken for re-designing : 90 minutes

3) Prototyping:

The re-designed cooker-handle is printed using 3D Printers.

Time taken for 3D printing : 180 minutes

The entire exercise took less than 6 hours from inception to prototype of a new design.

Adopting these technologies into your process gives you flexibility at a fraction of cost to experiment with new designs as the turnaround time is reduced from weeks to hours.

How think3d can help you adopt these technologies in your company?

Think3d – India’s largest 3D printing platform – partners with you and aids in enabling you to use these technologies to your advantage . In addition to providing sales and services of 3D printers and scanners that suit your need and budget, we also provide 3D Designing, 3D Scanning and 3D printing services. Our highly qualified team will train you in using this equipment ‘in – house’ and our dedicated support team makes sure that your equipment is always up and running