3D PRINTING AND LASER By: Osama Desouky

Mechanical Engineering
CUTTING FOR Program
December 31, 2023
ENGINEERING PROJECTS
 ABOUT ME
 Teaching technical laboratory coordinator,
Mechanical Engineering 2019
 Research Assistant 2016- 2019
 Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering 2016
 Team Manager for Shell eco marathon 2016
 Master of Science, Chemical Engineering, 2022
 Interests: 3D printing, Materials science, Fabrication
and DIY projects, Car Maintenance, design, and
teaching
Office: 228B
Phone: 4423-0235
 ABOUT THIS COURSE
 The course is an introductory level into
new prototyping technologies needed for
campus wide students in fabricating their Time Activity
own simple structures. 9:00 am -9:10 am
9:10 am – 10:15 am
Welcome and introduction
3D Printing and limitations
(1) Laser cutting as a precise and quick solution 10:15 am – 10:30 am Quick break
10:30 am – 12:00 pm Practice
for various academic courses and for hobbyists 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Lunch break
who enjoy building their structures. 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm 3D printing methods
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Practice on 3D scanning
(2) 3D Printing is emerging and is needed by
many students in prototyping, additive
manufacturing allows for achieving accurate and
detailed designs at very fast rate
Time Activity
9:00 am -9:10 am Check-in and attendance
 What to expect? 9:10 am – 10:15 am Laser cutting and
limitations
 Theory 10:15 am – 10:30 am Quick break
10:30 am – 12:00 pm Practice
 Hands-on Experience 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Lunch break
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Bottles and coasters
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Practice
3D PRINTING
PRINCIPLES
MANUFACTURING
PRINCIPLES
1. Subtractive: material removed from a solid block until you reach the desired form
2. Fabricative: elements or physical material are combined and joined
3. Formative: mechanical forces and/or heat are applied to a material to form it into
the required shape; e.g. bending, casting and moulding
4. Additive: Material is manipulated so that successive pieces of it combine to make
the desired object
SUBTRACTIVE VS. ADDITIVE
WHAT IS 3D PRINTING?
WHY 3D PRINTING?
* The action or process of making a * 3D printing for prototypes you will
physical object from a three- simply be able to go to market faster.
dimensional digital model, typically * Complex Shapes
by laying down many thin layers of a
material in succession. * Colored prints

* Known as Additive manufacturing.

OVERVIEW OF 3D PRINTING
 The technology often referred
to as “Additive Manufacturing”
has been around since 1984
(almost 40 years)
Invented by Chuck Hull of 3D
systems Inc.
Laying layers of materials
(plastics, metals, composites,
and ceramics)
DIFFERENT
METHODS/TECHNOLOGIES
 Stereolithography (SLA): First method
developed by Hull. Involves using UV light
in order to bond layers, any unused material
is available for the next job.
Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM):
Invented in the 80’s by Scott Crump. He and
his wife formed Stratasys.
Involves extruding a stream of melted plastics which
harden almost instantaneously once extruded. PLA,
PETG, ABS, and many others. Less expensive.

 Select Laser Sintering (SLS): Uses

powdered materials such as polystyrene,
ceramics, glass, nylon, metals, and produces
no waste.
INDUSTRIES?
AeroSpace Industry  Automotive industry
Boeing BMW
Airbus Bently
NASA
INDUSTRIES?
Food Industry  Biomedical industry
PROCESS
STL FILES?
•STL (.stl) is the standard file format used
in 3D Printing (Binary or ASCII).
•An STL file describes only the surface
geometry of a 3D object without any
common CAD model attributes (units,
material, …) or representation of colour or
texture.
•The surface is tessellated into a set of
oriented triangles(facets). Each facet is
described by the outward normal and three
points listed in counterclockwise order
representing the vertices of the triangle.
SLICING
G-CODE
G-code is the most widely used
numerical control (NC) programming
languages. It was originally developed
in the 50s for controlling automated
machine tools (Computer-Aided
Manufacturing – CAM).
It is now also used to control 3D
Printers.
A G-code file contains the instructions
for the 3D Printer on where to
move, how fast, along which path…
CONSIDERATIONS FOR 3D
PRINTING
• Machines specifications: • Materials to be used:
 Building envelope (size of the parts to be built)  Extruder maximum temperature
 Accuracy / Print tolerances  Materials to be used
 Minimum Layer resolution  Heated bed
 Building speed  Availability of materials
 Dual extruder
 OS supported (Mac, Windows, Linux)

• Cost
 3D printer DIY kit
 Plug and play
MATERIALS USED FOR 3D
PRINTING
CHECK LIST
Check STL file
Scale of part
Decide of part orientation before
exporting stl
Generate supports
Select build style / filling strategy
Select layer thickness
Select material (and associated build
parameters)
WHAT ELSE?
3D scanners?
Reverse Engineering
3D PRINTING OUTLINE
Prusa I3 MK3 Printer
Print
Learn on how to improve the print
quality
Common mistakes
Enjoy !
PRACTICE
1- Download Prusa Slicer
2- Select Mk3s as your printer/mini
3- Select your filament
4- Select layer height
5- slice
6- Print
Project 1: Small object 30 min-1 hour
printing
Project 2: Overnight Printing
LASER CUTTING
PRINCIPLES
 NAME THE FOLLOWING
MANUFACTURING
TECHNIQUES?

Laser cutting/Engraving CNC-subtractive Manufacturing 3D printing

MANUFACTURING
PRINCIPLES
1. Subtractive: material removed from a solid block until you reach the desired form
2. Fabricative: elements or physical material are combined and joined
3. Formative: mechanical forces and/or heat are applied to a material to form it into
the required shape; e.g. bending, casting and moulding
4. Additive: Material is manipulated so that successive pieces of it combine to make
the desired object
LASER CUTTING PRINCIPLES
 Which category is Laser cutting?
2D or 3D?
Laser cutting is a type of thermal separation
process
The laser beam hits the surface of the material
and heats it so strongly that it melts or completely
vaporizes
The laser system follows the selected geometry
and separates the material
LASER BEAM
CHARACTERISTICS
OVERVIEW OF LASER
CUTTING
 Optical fibre lasers were first demonstrated in
1961 by Elias Snitzer
The gas laser cutting process, using a carbon
dioxide mix, was first invented in 1964 at Bell
Labs, by Kumar Patel
The crystal laser process for cutting was
developed, also founded at Bell Labs in 1964, by
a different engineer named J. E. Geusic.
The laser was intended for military applications
Cuts were made using oxygen assist gas in high
carbon tool steel and stainless steel up to 2.5mm
thick at speeds up to 1m/min
APPLICATIONS
 Electronics
 Medicine
 Defense
 Automotive
 Design
 Education
 DIY
 Can you think of application of Laser
cutting you use everyday?
 DIFFERENT
METHODS/TECHNOLOGIES
 CO2 Laser Cutters
 Consist of CO2 gas along with a mixture of other gases like helium and
nitrogen. This type of gas mixture is charged up by electric discharge which
then produces the laser beam. The wavelength of such cutters is 10.6mm.
 Materials: Glass, plastics, leather, wood, and acrylic.

Crystal Laser Cutters

 Generate beams from Neodymium doped yttrium ortho vanadate
 The wavelengths of these cutters are smaller as compared to CO2 laser
cutters hence they can cut through some thicker materials.
 Smaller wavelength also contributes to better focus and higher intensity
 Materials: Plastics, Metals, and Ceramics.

 Fiber Laser Cutters

 Cutting of reflective and conductive metals, thrice the times of efficiency as
compared to CO2 laser cutters, and the absence of movable parts
 Fiber lasers can work on metals as well as organic materials.
 Efficient and low maintenance.
 Materials: Metals and Organic materials.
DIFFERENT LASER TYPES
PROS-CONS
 A wide variety of metallic and  High equipment cost.
nonmetallic materials can be machined.
 Unsafe operation for eye.
No mechanical contact, and no
deformations of workpiece and no tool  Blind holes of precise depth are
wear are encountered. difficult to achieve.

It produces micro features in difficult-  Laser produces tapered holes.

to-machine and refractory materials.  Sharp corners are difficult to produce
It is easy to control the beam  HAZ cannot be avoided.
characteristics to adapt to a specific
machining duty.  Unpolished surfaces are preferred
Machining speed is high.
LASER BEAM MACHINING
 LBM is used to cut and machine both hard
and soft materials, irrespective of its physical
and mechanical properties.

To make the laser beam useful for machining,

its power density should be increased by
focusing, thus attaining power density values
between and .

Machining of Al, Cu, Ag, and Au is being

especially problematic, as these metals are of
high thermal conductivityand have the
tendency to reflect the light.
MODES OF OPERATION
• Continuous wave (CW) and pulsed (P)
modes
•Generally, CW lasers are used for
processes like welding, soldering, and
surface hardening that require an
uninterrupted supply of energy for
melting and phase transformation.
•Controlled pulse energy is desirable for
cutting, drilling, marking, and so on,
striving for less heat distortion and the
minimum possible HAZ.
PEAK LASER POWER
 Average Power ()
 Pulse frequency (f)
 Pulse Duration ()

CO2laser is an infrared (IR) laser beam of long wavelength

(λ = 10,600 nm) and with low photon power
HOW TO MAKE MY OWN
PART?
WORKING PRINCIPLE
EQUIPMENT FUNCTIONS
 Lasing material: (solid state or gas)
 Pumping energy source: required to
excite the atoms of the lasing material to
a higher energy level
Mirror system: One of these mirrors is
fully reflective, while the other one is
partially transparent to provide the laser
output (output mirror). It allows the
radiant beam to either pass through, or
bounce back and forth repeatedly
through the lasing material
HOW IT WORKS?
 Material absorb laser energy to be
heated and melting
When power density and , evaporation
of material on surface will become high
density plasma, resulting in reducing
absorption of laser. This effect is called
as plasma shielding effect
MATERIAL REMOVAL RATE
PARAMETERS
 Speed
 Power
 Material dependent
 Thickness
CHECK LIST
Check your cutter
Check your dimensions
Check the power of cutter
Select the correct material
LETS START MAKING THINGS!

Dimensions: 615 x 445 x 177 mm

Weight: 22 kg
300 x 210 x 45 mm ( 11.81" x 8,27" x 1.77"
Work Area:
inch )
Camera Preview Area: 300 x 195 mm
Voltage: AC 110V / 220V
Touch Panel: 1024 x 600 LCD
Camera: HD CMOS
I / O: Wi-Fi / Ethernet
Laser Spec: 30W CO₂ Laser
Laser Wavelength: -
Laser Moving Speed: 0 ~ 300 mm/s
Laser Cutting Thickness: 0 - 5 mm (varies by material)
Software Mode: Vector / Graphic (monochrome, gray scale)
Software Operating System: Windows / macOS / Linux
Software File Type: JPG / PNG / SVG / DXF
BEAM STUDIO
LET US PRACTICE
Task 1: Coasters Task 2: Water Bottle
3D SCANNING
WHY
3D scanners?
Reverse Engineering
PROCESS?
3D SCANNING
 Efficiently takes the measurements of
contoured surfaces and complex
geometries
 Requiring vast amounts of data for
accurate description
 3D scanning technologies vary with
different physical principles
THANK YOU December 31, 2023