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Abstract
Material extrusion (ME) systems offer end-users with a more affordable and accessible additive manufacturing (AM) technology compared to other processes in the market. ME is often used to quickly produce low-cost prototyping with the freedom of scalability where parts can be produced in different geometries, quantities and sizes. As the use of desktop ME machines has gained widespread adoption, this review paper discusses the key design strategies and considerations to produce high quality ME parts, as well as providing actional advice to aid end-users in quickly identifying and efficiently troubleshooting issues since current information is often fragmented and incomplete. The systemic issues and solutions concerning desktop ME processes discussed are not machine-specific, covering categories according to printer-associated, deposition-associated and print quality problems. The findings show that the majority of issues are associated with incorrect printer calibration and parameters, hardware, material, Computer Aided Design (CAD) model and/or slicing settings. A chart for an overview of ME troubleshooting is presented allowing designers and engineers to straightforwardly determine the possible contributing factors to a particular problem.
Highlights
Material extrusion (ME) is the second most popular form of additive manufacturing (AM) process with 844,800 and 499,500 searches on Google as well as Google Scholar, respectively, after Powder BedFusion that has been searched 578,000 and 26,820,000 times, respectively
The technology involves the material from a spool of filament that is loaded into the printer, melted above its glass transition temperature (Tg ) for amorphous polymers and above its melt temperature (Tm ) for semi crystalline polymers to be selectively dispensed through the heated extrusion nozzle and deposited onto the build platform at a predetermined location (Figure 1) [2]
This paper has provided an overview of current issues concerning the use of desktop ME systems
Summary
Material extrusion (ME) is the second most popular form of additive manufacturing (AM) process with 844,800 and 499,500 searches on Google as well as Google Scholar, respectively, after Powder Bed. Examples of commercially available commodity thermoplastics used in used, ranging from commodities, engineering, to high-performance thermoplastics, composites, and include polylactic acid (PLA), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), high impact polystyrene (HIPS), functional materials (Table 1). Examples of engineering polymers polyamide (PA6), polyamide (PA66), polyamide (PA12), polycarbonate (PC), thermoplastic commercially available for ME include acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA), polymethyl methacrylate polyurethane (TPU), polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG), recycled. Examples of high-performance polymers copolyester elastomer (TPC),ofpolyvinyl polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), butenediol available as filaments for include polyphenylsulfone (PPSF, PPS or PPSU), polyetherimide (PEI), vinyl alcohol (BVOH), blended with PLA and other blends of polymers (Table 3) [3]. Examples of polyamide imide (PAI), polyaryletherketone (PAEK), polyether ether ketone (PEEK), polyvinlydene high-performance polymers available as filaments for ME include polyphenylsulfone
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