3D printing
In the first week of January the Delft University of Technology has organized a fully online 3D printing for repair masterclass. 48 participants remade broken products by fixing parts using FDM printing technology.
The parts were analysed on aesthetic, constructional and thermal performance and digitized using callipers and CAD software. Of course, the designs were no ordinary copies of the original injection moulded part, but redesigned and optimized for printing with lower-performing materials. Many participants haven’t used CAD software before and designed their parts in TinkerCAD or OpenSCAD. Others used advanced software like Solid Works or free-to-use CAD software like OnShape and Fusion 360. After printing the parts were undergoing heavy in situ testing to evaluate their performance and durability.
The results were astounding and some randomly chosen examples of remade parts can be seen at the bottom of the corresponding article.