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Overcoming limitations of polymer additive manufacturing for snap-fit joint design and part assembly

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Abstract

Polymer additive manufacturing has been widely used across a variety of industries due to its design flexibility advantage and rapid prototyping capabilities. However, there are still limitations that prevent the full potential of this technology from being exploited. One of these limitations has to do with the necessity of assembly and disassembly of manufactured parts to ease the installation of inner components. Notably, snap-fit joints have proven to be a very useful coupling mechanism when trying to assemble two or more parts. However, they can be challenging to design, particularly when using additive manufacturing processes. Consequently, this paper discusses the use of polymer additive manufacturing, specifically in the context of snap-fit joint design and part assembly. An extended design methodology is proposed, ranging from global considerations on material properties and technology used for in-detail considerations concerning part geometry and coupling mechanisms. The methodology is based on a systematic approach of design for additive manufacturing and evaluation of the snap-fit joints. Additionally, a process for estimating the quantity of required joint elements is included in the methodology, which is a novel contribution to the literature in this field. Ultimately, the proposed design process is demonstrated in a case study including snap-fit joints for part assembly. The results suggest that, by applying the proposed methodology, designers can overcome the limitations of polymer additive manufacturing and achieve successful designs of complex parts with snap-fit joints as coupling elements.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Helguero 3D for their contribution to this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Manufacturing and Prototyping Laboratory (CAMPRO), Faculty of Mechanical and Production Sciences Engineering (FIMCP), ESPOL Polytechnic University, Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, ESPOL, Campus Gustavo Galindo Km 30.5 Vía Perimetral, P.O. Box 09-01-5863, Guayaquil, Ecuador

    Jorge L. Amaya Rivas, Carlos G. Helguero, Diego R. Villacreses Naranjo, Emilio A. Ramírez Salazar, Fausto A. Maldonado Galarza & Jorge L. Hurel Ezeta

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  1. Jorge L. Amaya Rivas
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Correspondence to Jorge L. Amaya Rivas.

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Amaya Rivas, J.L., Helguero, C.G., Villacreses Naranjo, D.R. et al. Overcoming limitations of polymer additive manufacturing for snap-fit joint design and part assembly. Prog Addit Manuf 9, 493–504 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40964-023-00468-x

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