Combine effect of feeding rate and modeling parameter on the extrusion pressure in material extrusion additive manufacturing

Abstract

Numerical modeling of the complex flow through the hot-end in the material extrusion (ME) additive manufacturing (AM) system is presented. A modeling parameter known as the mushy zone parameter and feeding rate was varied to predict extrusion pressure and other flow variables during ME. The simulation shows that the mushy zone parameter (Amush) influences the extrusion pressure for tough-polylactic acid (TPLA) filament. At all the feeding rates (40, 60, and 80 mm/min) considered, the extrusion pressure and dampening of the flow increase with an increase in the mushy zone parameter. However, the pressure drop is minimum for the lowest feeding rate of 40 mm/min and increases with an increase in the feeding rate. Generally, the temperature distribution in the hot-end suggests that the impact of Amush on the thermal field is lower when compared to the feeding rate. This indicates that the additional thermal energy needed to raise the temperature of semicrystalline materials to melting temperature due to the melting enthalpy being small. The current model suggests that improving the understanding of the complex flow physics in the hot-end can increase the printing parts production rate, redesigning the hot-end, inline process parameter monitoring, and control.© 2023 Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME). Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of the NAMRI/SME.