a comparative fem analysis of a substituted 3d-printed u-joint with pla and abs materials

Currently, manufacturing and repairing industrial equipment in a shorttime with the least cost has been a challenge. furthermore, the idle time of theindustrial machines due to their failed parts imposes high losses on the productionprocess. applying 3d printers to manufacture damaged parts quickly is a promisingmeasure to tackle the abovementioned problem. this article is an efficient approachto the manufacture and analysis of a universal joint (u-joint) as the case study withpolylactic acid (pla) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (abs) through the 3dprinting process. u-joints are widely used as a coupling in industrial equipment toalleviate the misalignment of input and output shafts in many gearboxes and pumps.because of undergoing fatigue loads, the failure occurrence in u-joints is veryprobable. therefore, an attempt is made here to substitute this part with a 3d-printedone. besides, comparing and evaluating the results of fem simulations for the sakeof selecting the most suitable material for the u-joint are done. according to thefem results, the maximum stress imposed on the u-joint was obtained 28.8mpawhich is lower than the yield strength of both pla and abs materials; however, theresults show that pla has higher fatigue strength than abs in this case.