Mesoscopic Assemblies with SDM Processing

Shape Deposition Manufacturing (SDM) is a layered manufacturing process capable of building complex 3D parts through the combination of material addition and subtraction. Overhangs can be built with the help of sacrificial support materials. SDM achieves high surface quality by taking advantage of material subtraction by CNC machining. High surface quality in turn enables the fabrication of pre-assembled mechanisms that can be freed to turn or slide after removal of sacrificial support materials. Using SDM, miniature trailing-edge effectors (MiTEs), which are pneumatic actuators with the minimum feature size of about 500 P KDYH EHHQ fabricated for aeroelastic control of uninhabited air vehicles (UAV’s). However, as part size is VFDOHG GRZQ OLPLWLQJ SURFHVVLQJ FRQVWUDLQWV ZHUH REVHUYHG 7R GDWH FOHDUDQFHV RI P FRXOG be achieved in MiTEs. Also, this paper will discuss limiting manufacturing constraints and planning issues unique to the size range which is frequently referred to as the ‘mesoscopic’ regime.