Mathematical modeling and experimental study of material flow and torque in the extrusion-based additive manufacturing of granulated polymer
Fused deposition modeling (FDM) method is one of the most common additive manufacturing techniques for printing polymer parts. However, it requires pre-formed filaments for printing which limits the variety of the materials that can be printed. The alternative is direct melting of granulated polymer...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Results in Engineering |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123025012721 |
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| Summary: | Fused deposition modeling (FDM) method is one of the most common additive manufacturing techniques for printing polymer parts. However, it requires pre-formed filaments for printing which limits the variety of the materials that can be printed. The alternative is direct melting of granulated polymer pellets in an extrusion chamber and deposition of the extruded to make parts. This method opens the way for using various materials including almost all polymers and polymer-metal or polymer-ceramic composites in direct or indirect additive manufacturing. However, there are challenges in setting the parameters of the extruder and adjustment of the material flow. This article presents an analysis of material flow in the extruder used for direct pellet-printing of Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) parts. The material in the extruder is divided into the melting and the melted zones. In the melting zone, the thickness of the melt increases gradually, whereas in the melted zone, pressure gradient is developed in the fully melted polymer. Characteristic specifications of extruder such as operating pressure, screw rotational speed, material flow and the required torque for rotating the screw are derived for extruding ABS polymer. The extrusion-based injection system was built up and is used in a test setup for validation of the simulation results. Good correlation between the experimental and theoretical results is obtained. |
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| ISSN: | 2590-1230 |