2024 Sandia Additive Manufacturing Competition
Sandia National Laboratories announces the 2024 Sandia Additive Manufacturing Challenge with the Society of Manufacturing Engineers at UC Davis. The goal of this challenge is to encourage students to think about how they can overcome current manufacturing limitations by taking advantage of 3D printing technologies. This competition is open to any UC Davis students (graduate and undergraduate) interested in additive manufacturing (AM) who are registered SME members at UC Davis. To be a registered SME member students must join the email list and register on Aggie Life. Teams must have 3-5 members and will receive mentoring from Sandians with expertise in additive manufacturing.
Join email list: https://lists.ucdavis.edu/sympa/subscribe/sme-members
Register on Aggie Life: https://aggielife.ucdavis.edu/feeds?type=club&type_id=39538&tab=home
Prompt
Create a “flat pack” snap-out (similar to those that come in model kits) design that can be manufactured in a vertical orientation to allow for multiple flat packs to be 3D printed at once. The piece parts of a single snap pack will be used to assemble a toy car with wheels that can spin freely.
2D visualization of removing a piece part from a flat pack snap-out
Stretch Goal
Analyze how thermal stresses during the manufacturing process may deform the part to be out of geometrical tolerance.
Relevance
One key advantage to AM is the ability to fabricate geometries that are otherwise impossible using conventional tools. However, one limitation of AM is the throughput and relative cost per part. Being able to intelligently design parts to a larger assembly that can also maximize the productivity of a printer’s build volume helps reduce cost and improve manufacturing productivity. A “flat pack” snap-out design is easier when built atop a single build plate, but more challenging when produced in a vertical and nested configuration to fill a printer’s entire build volume. This is more relevant in powder-based technologies than Filament Deposition Method (FDM), but the concepts remain the same.
Rubric
| 1 | 2 | 3 | Total | |
| Demonstrate flat pack can be printed vertically | Flat pack cannot be printed vertically | N/A | Minimal to no postprocessing required | |
| Amount of postprocessing required | Requires a large amount of postprocessing | Requires a moderate amount of post-processing | Minimal to no postprocessing required | |
| Fit & finish of pieces into final assembly | Pieces do not fit into final assembly | Pieces fit poorly into final assembly | Pieces fit well into final assembly | |
| Creativity | Design is unexceptional | Design is acceptable with some innovations | Design is innovative and thoughtful | |
| Presentation | Presentation lacks focus | Presentation is relevant to prompt | Presentation is well articulated, focused, and relevant |
Sandia Events
Past Events
Spring General Meeting: April 10, 2024
Time: 5:00-6:00 pm
Location: Kemper 1131
SME Spring General Meeting.pdf
CAD Workshop: February 26, 2024
Time: 6:30-8:00 pm
Location: Kemper 1131
CAD Workshop: February 7, 2024
Time: 6:00-7:30 pm
Location: Kemper 1131
Contact Information
Society of Manufacturing Engineers at UC Davis: smeatucdavis@gmail.com
Sandia National Laboratories: designaward@sandia.gov
Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525. SAND2024-00428M
A PDF version of this page is also attached at the bottom of this page
