Towards a circular end-to-end process for fully 3D printed footwear – assessment of additive manufacturing processes, material selection and mechanical characterization

The fashion industry has recently shifted toward better environmental practices but focus has been on apparel because shoes are complex products. ARSHAE, located in Montréal, proposes an end-to-end solution that accounts for the entire life cycle of shoes by building a closed loop system that enables zero waste. ARSHAE focuses on using ecological materials in hyper-localized mini factories powered by 3D printing.
3D printing is a highly interesting and disruptive solution presenting unlimited potential for the footwear industry. Moreover, it has a potential to drastically reduce the time to market and deliver personalized shoes on demand considering customer preferences and needs to unpreceded level. However, developments are still in its infancy and a fully 3D printed shoe is challenging to achieve. Sofar, only few components of a shoe are 3D printed by some by large global footwear companies.
Building on solid fashion design expertise and a comprehensive and solid review already performed by ARSHAE, the company needs support on specific engineering expertise. This project aims to address this problematic by determining and optimizing the choice of materials, the 3D printing process, and the design of the parts to be printed enabling fully 3D printing footwear at economical viable costs.

Faculty Supervisor:

Lucas Hof;Jean-Pierre Kenne

Student:

Partner:

Arshae

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

École de technologie supérieure

Program: