Second Michael Sfantzikopoulos Award
Award Ceremony
2nd Michael Sfantzikopoulos Award
MD-Lab hosted the second Michael Sfantzikopoulos Award ceremony, recognizing the best diploma thesis in mechanical design for the academic year 2022-23. The award was presented to Ioannis Kaisarlis for his work on the CAD/CAE analysis of a prototype gantry-type 3D construction printer.
About the Award
The Michael Sfantzikopoulos Award is dedicated to outstanding diploma-thesis work in the field of mechanical design. It is awarded annually to the best diploma thesis in this area, highlighting rigorous engineering design, clear modeling work and practical contribution to mechanical engineering research and practice.
Awarded Diploma Thesis
The second award was presented to Ioannis Kaisarlis for the diploma thesis Static and Modal Analysis of the Truss Structure of a Prototype 3D Construction Printer in a CAD/CAE Environment. The work was connected to 3BUILD, a research project focused on robotic mortar printing for buildings and infrastructure.
The thesis examined a gantry-type concrete printer that had to be modular, portable and practical to assemble on site. The design problem combined mechanical architecture, structural stiffness, transportability and the positional accuracy required by construction-scale 3D printing.
Thesis focus: selection of the printer architecture, aluminum truss design, gantry-module configuration, lifting and motion mechanisms, static analysis and modal assessment of the prototype structure.
Design Highlights
- Comparison of construction-scale 3D-printer architectures, leading to the selection of a gantry-type Cartesian system.
- Use of aluminum profiles and truss geometry to balance stiffness, transportability and ease of construction.
- Evaluation of lifting and motion concepts, including rejection of a scissor mechanism due to excessive base force requirements.
- Static and dynamic assessment showing beam stress within yield limits, maximum displacement of 3.56 mm and lowest natural frequency of 7.3 Hz.
- Final model constructed and put into operation as part of the 3BUILD development pathway.
Ceremony Photos
