Miniature products and components are in great demand in the electronics industry and Direct Write (DW) has become the subject of interest due to its capability of printing small features and offering low manufacturing cost. DW technologies, a subset of rapid prototyping, have been applied to many applications in electronics, aeronautics, photonics and biomedical engineering, Among them, syringe deposition technology is a promising technique, providing precision deposition of materials with various viscosities, on-line design changes and ability to write on non-planar substrates, In addition, the low amount of material waste, low cost investment in production facilities and the versatility of the system make syringe-based DW technology ideal for low-cost electronics production especially for small batch production, Furthermore, the data-driven nature of digital printing manufacturing methods allows fast manufacturing runs and a short time cycle from design to manufacture which all translate into shorter delivery times in manufacturing. Syringe-based DW technology is a new and promising technology and hence its capabilities have never been exploited comprehensively. The objective of this project was to investigate the possible use of a syringe-based DW technology by means of automatic syringe deposition system in conjunction with heating process to fabricate electronic components such as strain gauges, antenna and others. By doing this, the aim is to help improve the fundamental knowledge of syringe-based DW process behaviour and functional performance of components produced.

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a class of echnologies whereby components are made in an additive, layer-by-layer fashion enabling production of complex parts in which complexity has little or no effect on cost. However typical components roduced using these techniques are basic structural items with no major strength requirement and low geometric tolerances made from a single material. his thesis develops a low-cost Fused Filament abrication (FFF) based AM technique to produce functional parts. This is achieved by through esearching and implementing new materials in ombination and using precise control of infill tool paths for existing materials. Robocasting has previously been shown to be extremely versatile, however is known to offer poorer build quality relative to its ess-versatile counterparts. Research was ndertaken to enable Robocasting to be combined with FFF to enable the print quality and practical benefits of FFF with the material flexibility of Robocasting. This resulted in the manufacture of several multiple-material omponents using the technique to demonstrate its potential. In order to minimise the number of materials required to obtain desired properties, the effect of process parameters such as layer height, infill angle, and infill porosity were investigated. In total over an order of agnitude variation in Young’s modulus and tensile strength were achieved, enabling these properties to be actively controlled within the manufactured components. Finally a novel non-eutectic low melting point alloy was developed to be compatible with the FFF process. Its greater viscosity compared to traditional eutectics resulted in improved print quality and the reliable deposition of electrically conductive track 0.57x0.25mm in cross-section. In addition the material is approximately three orders of magnitude more conductive that typical printable organic inks. A micro-controller was produced using the technique in conjunction with traditional electronics components. This represents the first time a functional electrical circuitry, with sufficient conductivity for the majority of applications and interfacing directly with standard electrical components, has been produced using a very low-cost AM technique such as FFF. The research undertaken builds components with substantially improved functionality relative to traditional AM products, enabling electromechanical components with varying mechanical and electrical properties. It is anticipated that this could substantially reduce the part-count for many engineering assemblies and open up Additive Manufacturing to many new applications.

Les techniques de fabrication rapide, issues des techniques de prototypage rapide comme l’impression 3D ou la découpe laser permettent de fabriquer des pièces uniques sans demander d’expertise particulière du procédé mis en œuvre. En revanche la modélisation de nouveaux objets tout comme la personnalisation d’objets existants restent difficiles. En effet, les techniques de prototypages rapides imposent des contraintes sur la géométrie du modèle qui doivent être respectées. Cette thèse présente un ensemble de techniques qui ont pour point commun d’assister l’utilisateur dans la modélisation d’un objet, en tenant compte des contraintes du procédé qui permettra de le fabriquer. À cette fin, l’algorithme prend en charge tout ou partie de la modélisation. En particulier, les problématiques suivantes sont abordées : Tout d’abord, je propose d’améliorer la qualité des objets fabriqués avec une imprimante 3D en minimisant certains défauts qui apparaissent lors de la fabrication. Les approches développées modifient uniquement les algorithmes de pilotage de l’imprimante. En second lieu, je propose d’aider l’utilisateur à prendre en compte les contraintes de fabrication pendant la modélisation. Mes techniques utilisent des informations partielles sur la forme que l’utilisateur souhaite fabriquer, comme le dessin en deux dimensions d’un mécanisme, ou un modèle paramétrique qui définit un meuble. L’algorithme optimise une forme finale qui améliore des critères liés à sa fabrication (gaspillage, encombrement, etc.). Enfin, dans certains cas (e.g. grand public) l’utilisateur n’est pas forcément à même de modéliser ces formes via des logiciels spécialisés. Pour ce cas précis, je propose une technique de synthèse de meubles à partir de spécifications fonctionnelles, e.g. la spécification de poids à porter dans l’espace / The Rapid Manufacturing techniques that emerged from Rapid Prototyping techniques such as 3D printing or laser cutting allow to fabricate unique objects. However, the design of those objects with existing CAD software remain a difficult task: rapid prototyping processes impose constraints on the geometry of the model. This thesis presents a set of techniques that assist the user in the design of an object by taking into account the constraints of the fabrication process. To achieve this, the algorithm automatically performs part of the modelling process. The following problems have been tackled: First, I propose to improve the quality of 3D printed objects by minimizing defects that appear during the fabrication. The technique developed impacts only the algorithm that drives the printer. Then, I propose to help the user to take into account the fabrication constraints during the modelling process. My techniques rely on partial information about the shape that the user wants to fabricate like the 2D sketch of a mechanism or a parametric model of a furniture. The algorithm optimizes the initial shape to improve fabrication objectives(Wastage, etc.) Finally, in some cases, the user does not know how to operate dedicated software. In this case, I propose a synthesis technique of furniture from functionnal specification, e.g. loads that have to be supported in space

En ce début de XXIème siècle, l’époque où seul la technique transformait la société toute entière est clairement révolue. Certes, les révolutions techniques sont là : interconnexion des personnes, explosion de l’internet, apparition de nouvelles formes d’énergies, de nouveaux procédés de production, de nouveaux matériaux etc... mais l’homme n'est plus un simple consommateur sensible au prix et aux incitations de l’état. Il souhaite être acteur et participer à l’utilisation des nouvelles technologies mais de manière raisonnée et en intégrant les grands enjeux sociétaux tels que le partage et la sauvegarde des ressources et matières premières. Cette thèse s’inscrit dans cette problématique globale: en effet tout au long du manuscrit nous réfléchissons à comment une révolution technique tel que la fabrication additive (FA) est prise en main par des citoyens dans des lieux de partage de la connaissance que sont les FabLabs, et plus précisément, s’il est possible et de quelle manière introduire de la durabilité dans le contexte open-source. Nous voyons dans un premier temps, comment la problématique sociétale forte du recyclage des matériaux se développe dans le contexte de la FA en générale et plus particulièrement nous proposons une revue bibliographique systématique sur le sujet. Dans un second temps nous recentrons notre recherche sur la FA dans le contexte open source et nous montrons que les machines dans ce contexte, bien qu’à des coûts très faibles par rapport aux machines professionnelles, ont cependant des niveaux de reproductibilités suffisant pour que l’on les utilise dans le cadre d’une recherche poussée. Dans le troisième chapitre nous proposons une méthodologie générale fixant l’étude du recyclage de polymères thermoplastiques dans le contexte open-source. Dans le quatrième chapitre nous utilisons la méthodologie vu précédemment pour le recyclage de l’acide polylactique (PLA). Nous montrons le niveau de dégradation de la matière à travers l’ensemble du procédé et concluons qu’il est possible de recycler le PLA pour l’impression 3D mais dans une moindre mesure que pour les procédés d’injection. Enfin nous concluons et proposons en perspective d’étudier le recyclage en circuit court d’autres polymères thermoplastique / Since the beginning of the XXI century, we can recognize that several technical (r)evolutions have changed the way we conceived our world. New realities have appeared thanks to the information and communication technologies (e.g. Internet), peer-to-peer dynamics (e.g. open software/hardware, collaborative economy), new means of production (fablabs, hackerspaces), among others. One of the impacts of this technical ecosystem is the individual's empowerment that changes the relationship between consumer and producer. For instance, we observe an evolution of role passing from a passive consumer towards an active prosumer, where this latter considers not only economic aspects, but also social and environmental issues.This thesis is integrated in this global issue; indeed, throughout the manuscript we analyze about the impact of open-source (OS) Additive Manufacturing (AM) (also as known as open-source 3D printing or just 3D printing) in the light of the sustainability issues. The democratization of OS AM and the creation of spaces for co-creation (e.g. FabLabs) proved the interest for changes in the established roles. Therefore, we are interested in how this OS technology could develop sustainable waste management options through a polymer recycling process. In a first phase, we present the concept of additive manufacturing (AM) and its importance on sustainability issues. A systematic literature review related to the material recycling advances in the commercial and open-source (OS) AM is developed with a focus on thermoplastic polymer recycling.In a second phase, our aim is to validate open-source AM systems as a reliable manufacturing tool. We develop and test an experimental protocol in order to evaluate the dimensional performance using as case study a representative OS 3D printer: called FoldaRap. It was found that the International Standard Tolerance Grade of this machine is situated between IT14 and IT16. We conclude that the dimensional performance of this case study is comparable to the commercial AM systems, taking into account the important different in terms of machine cost. In a third phase, we center our attention on the recycling process and we propose a systematic methodology to evaluate the feasibility of the use of recycled thermoplastic polymer in OS 3D printers. A case study is developed with the evaluation of the recycling process using polylactid acid (PLA). The results allow us to conclude that the use of recycled PLA is technically feasible. Nevertheless, the degradation of the material is more important than in other traditional manufacturing systems (e.g. injection). Finally, we concludes and propose as perspectives, the study of a distributed recycling process for other type of polymers