The additive manufacturing of products promises exciting possibilities. Measurement methodologies, which measure an in-process dataset of these products and interpret the results, are essential. However, before developing such a level of quality assurance several in-process measurands must be realized. One of these is the material flow rate, or rate of adding material during the additive manufacturing process. Yet, measuring this rate directly in material extrusion additive manufacturing presents challenges. This work presents two indirect methods to estimate the volumetric flow rate at the liquefier exit in material extrusion, specifically in Fused Deposition Modeling or Fused Filament Fabrication. The methods are cost effective and may be applied in future sensor integration. The first method is an optical filament feed rate and width measurement and the second is based on the liquefier pressure. Both are used to indirectly estimate the volumetric flow rate. The work also includes a description of linking the G-code command to the final print result, which may be used to create a per extrusion command model of the part.
Integration of Fiber-Reinforced Polymers in a Life Cycle Assessment of Injection Molding Process Chains with Additive Manufacturing