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Thermoplastic polymers are widely used in industry to generate parts with reasonable production costs, lightweight, chemical stability, sustainability, and recyclability compared to other materials such as metals, metalloids, or even thermoset polymers. The innovative additive manufacturing (AM) techniques, e.g., fused deposition modelling (FDM), can be used to fabricate thermoplastic products with complex geometries and specific properties. However, the mechanical integrity of those FDM-printed plastic parts can be greatly impacted by a phenomenon named material anisotropy. In this study, an experimental study on a popular 3D printing polymer material—acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)—is performed to determine how FDM process parameters affect the mechanical properties of the printed ABS parts. This study uniquely concentrates on investigating mechanical anisotropy in FDM-printed ABS, delving into a combination of key printing parameters for a comprehensive exploration. Meanwhile, a finite-element-based numerical analysis is also utilised to numerically evaluate the influences of infill percentage and build orientations on the mechanical properties of the 3D-printed ABS materials for comparison. It generates a better understanding of material anisotropy and helps to find the optimal FDM process parameters to print high-quality ABS parts and may attract industrial interests in transitioning from traditional ABS part production methods such as injection moulding or hot pressing to additive manufacturing.

INTRODUCTION: An important phase in the process of visual design for the narrative media is previsualization (previs). Professionals use complicated 3D software applications that are not especially designed for the purpose of previs which makes it difficult for the artists and non-technical users to create previs content.OBJECTIVES: The aim is to empower artists to express and visualize their ideas and creative capabilities in an optimal way.METHODS: We suggest using natural user interfaces (NUIs) and discuss suitable interactions for different previs tasks. We developed and evaluated a series of individual prototypes as well as a central overarching prototype following our NUI concepts.RESULTS: The results show that our NUI-based interaction methods were perceived highly positive and experts found it valuable for their work.CONCLUSION: With only a brief familiarization phase, NUIs can provide a convenient substitute to traditional design tools that require long training sessions.

A significant percentage of unaccounted-for water consists of leakage in water distribution networks in Iran. To detect leakage area with less costs and time spending and then identify the exact place of it with special instruments, would be economical and a better water resource management. In this research, a real case has been selected and examined with dynamic simulation using MIKE NET. The method that has been carried out in this research based on maximizing the correlation coefficient and minimizing the sum of error squares between pressure measured inputs (observed data) and calculated pressure (by model). According to the results, dynamic simulation of municipal water distribution system can be used as a guide to determine the place and the amount of leakage.Thereby the area of large leakage can be simulated with appropriate accuracy through measured pressure. Therefor from management aspect, dynamic simulation can be used to decrease time consumption and to save costs for detecting leakage.