EVALUATING THE POSSIBILITY OF REPLACING SOME COMPONENTS WITH PARTS MADE BY USING ADDITIVE TECHNOLOGY

Abstract

The paper tries to identify if the possibility of replacing some industrial components frequently used in industrial area that performs assembly operations is a viable solution. Within the paper, these components are proposed to be made through Fused Filament Deposition-FFD additive technology. As an example, a simple and well-known model of gripper was chosen so that it can be easily compared with those already existing on the market. Research has shown that, from an economic point of view, it is feasible to use this solution, especially where the assembly processes are affected by frequent changes and the geometry of the assembled parts is very different.