Eco-friendly free-size paper models: Integrating additive manufacturing with laser cutting for educational applications

Designing and fabricating real models is increasingly popular for enhancing the education of engineers, designers, surgeons, doctors, and students. Additive manufacturing supports this trend but is constrained by part size, raw materials, machine type, orientation of layers, and production time. This study introduces an innovative method combining additive manufacturing with a laser-cutting process to address some of these limitations. First, a 3D model of a pair of similar elliptical gears was designed using engineering software to manufacture paper models. Subsequently, a rectangular paper block was prepared by stacking layers of paper bonded with eco-friendly double-sided tape, mimicking the layer-by-layer approach of additive manufacturing. The desired external geometry of the elliptical gears was achieved via a laser-cutting process to cut the paper block. The simplicity of the fabrication method, environmental compatibility, non-toxicity of raw materials, availability, production of free-size models, and low cost of manufactured parts indicate that this technique can be used as an efficient method for manufacturing physical prototypes. These prototypes make it much easier for students to understand complex mechanical engineering concepts, improving their educational experience. Additionally, The produced samples demonstrated high dimensional accuracy within ±0.01 mm, suitable surface quality, and tensile strength.