Compound compliant mechanisms, interlocking construction bricks, and manufacturing methods thereof

A compound compliant mechanism for friction-fit fastening in an additively manufactured article, comprising:

• an outer portion and an inner portion defining an interface area;
• wherein at least one of the outer portion or inner portion comprises a surface profile having:
• a sloped positioning aid;
• a run-in section adjacent to the positioning aid;
• and a nub extending from the surface profile;
• wherein the nub is sized to be semi-sacrificial, such that an excess protrusion of the nub is sheared or deformed during a first assembly operation.

A method of manufacturing an interlocking construction brick using fused deposition modeling (FDM), the method comprising:

• depositing a thermoplastic material layer-by-layer to form a brick structure;
• forming a cup array on a bottom side of the brick structure, wherein the cup array comprises discrete cells separated by force normalization joints;
• and embedding a design object into a sidewall of the brick structure;
• wherein the design object is offset into the sidewall by a depth of 0.05 mm to 0.5 mm.