The final thesis demonstrates the application of various methods for product design and development. Within the scope of the work, the process of designing and developing a machine for recycling waste material from additive manufacturing—specifically polylactic acid (PLA)—into filament suitable for reuse in new prints was carried out.The first step described in the thesis includes a review of technologies relevant to the device's development, along with a detailed explanation of the filament production process from recycled material. Based on this, a technical questionnaire and a project goal definition were created to determine the direction and constraints of the development project.Following an analysis of patents and commercially available products, and their comparison using the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method, the technical specifications of the device were defined. Furthermore, functional decomposition was used to identify the main functions and subfunctions of the device, for which working principles and technical solutions were proposed, ultimately resulting in complete conceptual designs.The concepts were evaluated based on predefined criteria, and the most suitable concept was selected for further development. The development phase included the selection of standard and commercially available components, as well as the design of nonstandard parts, for which the necessary calculations were also performed.In the design of nonstandard parts, special attention was given to manufacturability. The result of the initial product design phase is a 3D computer model of the machine for recycling waste PLA into filament for additive manufacturing. The 3D model and the accompanying technical documentation were created using the CAD software CATIA V5R21.For the purpose of finalizing the design, additional cost calculations and an economic analysis were performed, defining the total manufacturing cost of the device, taking into account material prices and the cost of individual production processes. By including different markup rates, a proposed market price for the product was determined, which is highly competitive compared to other available products.
Fran Heric
2025
Bachelor thesis
