挪威科技大学(NTNU) researchers have developed a low-cost, open-source desktop 3D printing upgrade that could provide users with an accessible new way of processing high-temperature polymers.
Designed as an add-on for existing FFF machines, the team’s mod, consisting of aCrealityCR-10 Plus system fitted with a liquid-cooled drive extruder and stepper motors, is housed inside a home-made chamber that’s able to maintain a build temperature of 135°C, allowing it to deposit reinforced materials with fewer defects.
根据工程师的说法，他们的设置可以以“不到1,700美元的价格”组装，包括该系统，并将其添加到任何台式机单元中，以使其“能够打印高性能材料”。
FFF 3D打印：简短的历史
Back in 1989,Stratasys联合创始人斯科特·克鲁普（Scott Crump）为他所谓的融合沉积建模提交了专利申请，这是他集成到公司第一台“ FDM”机器中的过程：3D Modeler。然后，在2009年，在该专利最初提交的二十年后，它到期了，导致消费者3D打印繁荣，主要由RepRap Project以及阿德里安·鲍耶（Adrian Bowyer）博士在巴斯大学。
当时，这种到期也刺激了整个开发人员社区，该社区的发展成为了已经成为家喻户晓的初创企业，MakerBot，，，，Ultimaker，，，，andPrusa，，，，and the technology continues to be the most-used in the industry.
However, even though Stratasys’ wider extrusion technology was later built upon in the form of fused filament fabrication (FFF), the heated build chamber designs of its systems remained protected under a separate patent filed in 2000. As a result, until last year, its competitors had been forced to find new ways of keeping their printers’ motion control parts and build chambers separated.
According to the NTNU researchers, many such FFF systems “can now meet the strength and temperature resistance required for industrial applications,” but the lack of accessibility around machines with high-temperature printing capabilities has led to “limited research opportunities,” particularly when it comes to material qualification.
To overcome this, the team has taken advantage of theexpiry of Stratasys’ build chamber patentin 2021, and come up with a novel approach to making high-temp FFF production more accessible. In fact, they say that their system’s build chamber can even run at higher temperatures than commercial $50,000 systems like theAon M2，，，，meaning that it could “contribute to the [future] progress of distributed manufacturing.”
可访问的高温生产
本质上，研究人员的桌面3D打印机升级已建成大约两个宜家方法柜，，，，which, once connected, feature a joint 800 x 1200 x 800mm build volume. During the construction of their system, the team fitted it with steel plating, insulation mats, and a heat-resistant glass plate for build viewing, before sealing it with aluminum tape and gaskets to ensure its safe operation.
为了为他们的新型构建室提供动力，该团队将其安装在2.5 kW的500毫米x 500毫米硅胶加热器上，该加热器安装在铝板上，能够散发整个生产产生的热量。最终，该设备还配备了用于创建“液体冷却环”的储层和辐射器，以防止其步进电动机并在操作过程中热台过热。
Once the team had completed their prototype, they attached it to a Creality CR-10 Plus, by disassembling the 3D printer down to its frame, before reassembling it inside the chamber and connecting it up, and during summary testing, they found they were able to use an integrated controller to modulate the set-up’s liquid-cooling functionality as needed.
Although these tests did reveal unit heating loss along its top gaskets and viewing window, it did prove able to run consistently at 135°C, with a nozzle temperature of 400°C. Resulting parts, including a carbon fiber-reinforced PEEK-3D printed benchy and complex vase, also possessed an excellent level of detail and consistent quality from top-to-bottom, a key indicator of uniform build chamber temperature.
同样，与在A上制作的类似标本相比Prusa该团队的改装机器I3 MK3S系统产生的零件具有提高拉伸强度的22％，展示了其湿度控制功能的好处。
尽管NTNU工程师承认他们的构建需要高水平的“熟悉3D打印机，焊接，木材和金属加工”，但他们坚持认为，有足够的专业知识可以应用于“最商业上可用的[FFF]打印机，”雷电竞app下载以“能够进一步研究和改善高性能材料”的方式。
那些有兴趣建立升级的人，可以找到研究人员的全部成本细分并建立说明here。
Innovation in heated chamber design
Given that until recently, Stratasys’ build chamber patent had prevented this element of its machines from being replicated, other FFF 3D printer manufacturers have long been forced to find innovative cooling solutions. Consequently, now that Stratasys’ patent has expired, many of these have been quick to highlight the efficacy of their machinery.
For instance, when contacted by 3D Printing Industry for comment on the subject, Davide Ardizzoia of3ntr.net说：“ Stratasys专利的到期不会改变其产品。”同样，爱德华·冯（Edward Feng），全球首席执行官rish3d，，，，claimed in ourindustry insider forecastlast year, that his firm “doesn’t include patent expiration as a factor on its innovation roadmap.”
Elsewhere, engineers at the悉尼大学andUniversity of Science and Technology of Chinahave made recent advances of their own, developing anovel high-temperature 3D printerwith potential aerospace applications. Designed to be capable of processing PEEK at up to 400°C in orbital space conditions, it’s thought that the system could be deployed within future satellite repair missions.
研究人员的发现在其论文中详细介绍了“高性能聚合物3 d印刷——开源liquid cooled scalable printer design，，，，” which was co-authored by Andreas Hagerup Birkelid, Sindre Wold Eikevåg, Christer W.Elverum and Martin Steinert.
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Featured image shows the NTNU researchers’ sub-$1,700 high-temperature FFF 3D printing upgrade fitted to a Creality 3D printer. Photo via NTNU.
