Riprogettazione di un Attrezzo di Sollevamento Realizzato in Additive Manufacturing = Redesign of a lifting tool made in Additive Manufacturing

The aim of this work is to study and redesign a lifting tool that was originally made of steel. The tool has been rethought, redesigned, produced using composite materials and tested it. This project focuses on the lifting tool and on the technology with which it has been made: Fused Deposition Modeling. The first part of the thesis provides an introduction of additive manufacturing, starting from the history, describing the fundamental steps that characterize this technology and listing and describing the main techniques that deal with polymeric materials. In the second chapter Eiger, Markforged slicing software, and Markforged X7 printer are presented in detail, describing all the advantages and disadvantages of both and illustrating all the parameters that can be modified before printing any component. In the third chapter the lifting tool is illustrated. The case study is presented, describing both the old and the new design and also how the actual lifting tool works. In this chapter some details on the very first test done on the AM printed lofting tool are also described. In the fourth chapter the characterization of the Onyx® material is presented. Traction, compression, flexural tests on specimens reinforced with carbon fibres and specimens made only with polymeric matrix are described in detail, also illustrating all the results obtained and comparing these with the Markforged datasheet. The last part of this work provides a detailed overview on the FEM analysis done on the lifting tool 3D model and on the experimental test done on the printed tool, describing step by step all the design modification made that made possible the reaching of the target load and the tool certification.