Redesign of an innovative new extrusion system for a printing machine for ceramics

Author(s):  
Jihad EL Mesbahi ◽  
Irene Buj Corral ◽  
Abdelilah EL Mesbahi

Abstract Today, the introduction of ceramic materials in the medical field is becoming a vital necessity because of its stable physicochemical characteristics, high biocompatibility, and good osteoconductivity. On the other hand, machining of ceramic components is difficult, owing to their extreme hardness and brittleness. Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies are an appropriate alternative to obtain the complex shapes of implants, which can have porous structures. Thus, since the development of 3D printing, Direct Ink Writing (DIW) is one of the most promising and inexpensive techniques for shaping free-form ceramic medical components such as prostheses or dental implants from liquids or pastes. However, the assurance of performance criteria of the extrusion system for simultaneous usage becomes the major challenge for most Direct Ink Writing (DIW) platforms, for instance for printing large parts, for multi-material printing, to decrease printing time, and to increase efficiency in terms of motor usage and weight of the extruders. To address the current deficiencies, a new extrusion system is redesigned for a 3D printing machine for ceramics that is compatible with different low-cost, open-source 3D printers. The proposed extrusion model enables printing with a loader with different syringes simultaneously, without stopping the operational process while switching the syringe. Pugh concept analysis was used to select the optimum design shape. After that, the 3D CAD environment was used to combine the strength of Pugh’s method and the design space. This brings a new concept into the mechanical design field for 3D printers, which is in line with the technological trends prevalent in industry.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anas Sameer ◽  
Laith Ahmad ◽  
Mohammad Qawareeq ◽  
Mohammad Salah

Author(s):  
Olaf Diegel ◽  
Andrew Withell ◽  
Deon Debeer ◽  
Mark Wu

This paper describes research in adapting 3D printers to operate with low-cost ceramic materials. The components produced with these clay-based ceramic powders can be fired to produce strong, complex and lightweight ceramic parts. The final material properties, including the porosity of the parts, can be controlled through the part design and, potentially, through additives to the material that burn out during firing. The paper begins with a brief description of the 3D printing process and how it can be used with clay powders. It then introduces a factorial design experiment initiated to explore the effect of ingredient and parameter variations on the dimensional stability and material properties of green and fired ceramic parts. It then presents a case study in which 3D printed ceramic parts are used in the humidification system for an infant incubator for developing countries.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 212
Author(s):  
Florian Hubert ◽  
Tobias Bader ◽  
Larissa Wahl ◽  
Andreas Hofmann ◽  
Konstantin Lomakin ◽  
...  

Ceramic materials are chemical- and temperature-resistant and, therefore, enable novel application fields ranging from automotive to aerospace. With this in mind, this contribution focuses on developing an additive manufacturing approach for 3D-printed waveguides made of ceramic materials. In particular, a special design approach for ceramic waveguides, which introduces non-radiating slots into the waveguides sidewalls, and a customized metallization process, are presented. The developed process allows for using conventional stereolithographic desktop-grade 3D-printers. The proposed approach has, therefore, benefits such as low-cost fabrication, moderate handling effort and independence of the concrete waveguide geometry. The performance of a manufactured ceramic WR12 waveguide is compared to a commercial waveguide and a conventionally printed counterpart. For that reason, relevant properties, such as surface roughness and waveguide geometry, are characterized. Parsing the electrical measurements, the ceramic waveguide specimen features an attenuation coefficient of 30–60 dB/m within the E-Band. The measured attenuation coefficient is 200% and 300% higher compared to the epoxy resin and the commercial waveguide and is attributed to the increased surface roughness of the ceramic substrate.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolina Cardona ◽  
Abigail H Curdes ◽  
Aaron J Isaacs

Fused filament fabrication (FFF) is one of the most popular additive manufacturing (3D printing) technologies due to the growing availability of low-cost desktop 3D printers and the relatively low cost of the thermoplastic filament used in the 3D printing process. Commercial filament suppliers, 3D printer manufacturers, and end-users regard filament diameter tolerance as an important indicator of the 3D printing quality. Irregular filament diameter affects the flow rate during the filament extrusion, which causes poor surface quality, extruder jams, irregular gaps in-between individual extrusions, and/or excessive overlap, which eventually results in failed 3D prints. Despite the important role of the diameter consistency in the FFF process, few studies have addressed the required tolerance level to achieve highest 3D printing quality. The objective of this work is to develop the testing methods to measure the filament tolerance and control the filament fabrication process. A pellet-based extruder is utilized to fabricate acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) filament using a nozzle of 1.75 mm in diameter. Temperature and extrusion rate are controlled parameters. An optical comparator and an array of digital calipers are used to measure the filament diameter. The results demonstrate that it is possible to achieve high diameter consistency and low tolerances (0.01mm) at low extrusion temperature (180 °C) and low extrusion rate (10 in/min). 


Fourth Industrial Revolution gave birth to few different technologies, not known until now. One of them is 3D printing. If subtracting manufacturing is part of Industrial Revolution 3, Additive manufacturing is for sure part of Industrial Revolution 4.0. 3D printing has the potential to transform science and technology by creating bespoke, low-cost appliances that previously required dedicated facilities to make. 3D printers are used to initiate chemical reactions by printing the reagents directly into a 3D reactionware matrix, and so put reactionware design, construction and operation under digital control. Some models of 3D Printers can print uniquely shaped sugar confections in flavors such as chocolate, vanilla, mint, cherry, sour apple and watermelon. They can also print custom cake toppers–presumably in the likeness of the guest of honor.


2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 618-626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olaf Diegel ◽  
◽  
Andrew Withell ◽  
Deon de Beer ◽  
Johan Potgieter ◽  
...  

This research was initiated to develop low cost powders that could be used on 3D printers. The paper describes experiments that were undertaken with different compositions of clay-based powders, and different print saturation settings. An unexpected sideeffect of printing ceramic parts was the ability to control the part porosity by varying the powder recipe and print parameters. The cost of clay-based powder was, depending on the specific ingredients used, around US$2.00/Kg.


Author(s):  
Sakthi Kumar Arul Prakash ◽  
Tobias Mahan ◽  
Glen Williams ◽  
Christopher McComb ◽  
Jessica Menold ◽  
...  

Abstract 3D printing systems have expanded the access to low cost, rapid methods for attaining physical prototypes or products. However, a cyber attack, system error, or operator error on a 3D printing system may result in catastrophic situations, ranging from complete product failure, to small types of defects which weaken the structural integrity of the product, making it unreliable for its intended use. Such defects can be introduced early-on via solid models or through G-codes for printer movements at a later stage. Previous works have studied the use of image classifiers to predict defects in real-time as a print is in progress and also by studying the printed entity once the print is complete. However, a major restriction in the functionality of these methods is the availability of a dataset capturing diverse attacks on printed entities or the printing process. This paper introduces a visual inspection technique that analyzes the amplitude and phase variations of the print head platform arising through induced system manipulations. The method uses an image sequence of a 3D printing process captured via an off the shelf camera to perform an offline multi-scale, multi-orientation decomposition to amplify imperceptible system movements attributable to a change in system parameters. The authors hypothesize that a change in the amplitude envelope and instantaneous phase response as a result of a change in the end effector translational instructions, to be correlated with an AM system compromise. A case study is presented that tests the hypothesis and provides statistical validity in support of the method. The method has the potential to enhance the robustness of cyber-physical systems such as 3D printers that rely on secure, high quality hardware and software to perform optimally.


Author(s):  
Michael Maravola ◽  
Pedro Cortes ◽  
Michael Juhasz ◽  
Douglas Rutana ◽  
Bridger Kowalczyk ◽  
...  

The use of additive manufacturing (AM) provides an opportunity to fabricate composite tooling rapidly and cost effectively. This project appears to have demonstrated the use of an additive technology for the production of composite processing tools. In particular, this work has addressed tooling that is functional in the range of autoclave temperatures around 300–350°F. This has led to the use of Invar and ceramic materials for use in composite molding tools because of their relatively low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) performance, which is in range to that commonly displayed by carbon fiber reinforced composites during their solidifying-curing process. In this project, two main approaches have been considered. The first approach consisted on using binder jetting for 3D printing sand molds to cast molten Invar to produce the composite tooling. Indeed, 3D sand printing offers the ability to cast complex geometries without the geometric limitations associated with conventional pattern making. The second innovative approach was based on printing a mold based on silica sand and infiltrating it with a polymer to yield a robust ceramic composite tooling. An additional technology using a Hybrid Direct Energy Deposition (DED) System for cladding Invar upon a steel molding structure has also been considered for producing potential composite tooling. Indeed, this unique approach could represent a promising technology for producing low cost composite tooling since only a small layer of Invar would be printed upon a non-expensive substrate. The results have shown that the aforementioned processes have successfully resulted on low CTE composite tooling molds. This work presents innovative AM processes by initially investigating 3D ceramic systems for composite tooling.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (21) ◽  
pp. 6249
Author(s):  
Damian Gogolewski ◽  
Tomasz Kozior ◽  
Paweł Zmarzły ◽  
Thomas G. Mathia

This paper presents the results of an experimental study to evaluate the possibility of using SLM additive technology to produce structures with specific surface morphological features. Qualitative and quantitative tests were conducted on samples fabricated by 3D printing from titanium (Ti6Al4V)-powder-based material and analysed in direct relation to the possibility of their use in medicine for the construction of femoral stem and models with a specific degree of porosity predicted by process-control in the self-decision-making 3D printing machine. This paper presents the results of the study, limitations of the method, recommendations that should be used in the design of finished products, and design proposals to support the fabrication process of 3D printers. Furthermore, the study contains an evaluation of how the printing direction affects the formation of certain structures on the printed surface. The research can be used in the development of 3D printing standardization, particularly in the consideration of process control and surface control.


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