Design and Finite Element Analysis of a Novel PLA Hinge for Additive Manufacturing: A Comparative Study with a Conventional Hinge Geometry
10th International Conference on Scientific and Academic Research ICSAR 2026, Konya, Türkiye, 16 - 17 Ekim 2026, ss.426-433, (Tam Metin Bildiri)
- Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Tam Metin Bildiri
- Basıldığı Şehir: Konya
- Basıldığı Ülke: Türkiye
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.426-433
- Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Polymer hinges produced by fused deposition modelling (FDM) are increasingly considered low-cost, lightweight alternatives to metallic hinges; however, geometries developed for metals do not necessarily suit the lower stiffness and strength of thermoplastics. This study presents the design and finite element (FEA) based structural assessment of a novel three-component polylactic acid (PLA) hinge consisting of two leaves and a central pin. A commercially available hinge geometry was first modelled as a reference, assigned PLA properties and analysed in ANSYS Workbench. Based on the high-strain regions identified in this model, a novel hinge with five knuckles, six countersunk fastener holes and 2 mm fillets at all transitions was designed in SolidWorks. Both hinges were subjected to identical boundary conditions, a 1000 N axial force on the knuckles together with gravity, and evaluated by nonlinear static analyses with frictional contact and by prestressed modal analyses. The novel hinge reduced the average total deformation by approximately 50% (0.0387 mm to 0.0194 mm) and the average equivalent strain by 13%, while being 2.9% lighter. Apart from a localized peak at a knuckle contact edge, von Mises stresses in the leaves and knuckles remained within 1–15 MPa, corresponding to a safety factor of about 3.0 with respect to the yield strength of PLA. In contrast, the maximum deformation and peak strain were higher, and the fundamental natural frequency was lower (1038.9 Hz vs. 1624.2 Hz), although still well above the low-frequency excitation range. The proposed geometry distributes loads more uniformly; experimental validation remains necessary.