The 3D puzzle piece was designed by a CAM2 student. It was a student project in Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) aimed to design a give-away gift part to CAM2 members and partners. The part was designed to showcase the capability of Laser-Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) in making multiple parts in one build with precise control of internal and external geometrical features.
The puzzle is designed in three pieces which are all in the form of cylinders.
The bottom cylinder has internal grooves where a pin from the the middle cylinder can rotate and translate in.
The middle cylinder has one pin and also inner grooves where the top cylinder can translate and rotate in.
The top cylinder has no inner grooves but only a pin.
The puzzle starts with all pieces inside each other so that the grooves and pins are not visible. The user must rotate the pieces in the right way in order to find the right groove that enables the three pieces to get separated.
Researchers: Lars Nävert, Bharat Mehta, Zhuoer Chen
Material: 316L, Al-alloy
Additive process used: Laser-Powder Bed Fusion
Part size: diameter 30 mm × height 35 mm
Part weight: 100 g