Experimental and numerical evaluation of the temperature profile of a modular extrusion head applied to an experimental 3D printer

Abstract

This paper presents a thermal numerical model based on experimental evaluation of the temperature profile of an experimental 3D printer extrusion head. The experimental 3D printer offers the option of changing the deposition head subsystem, enabling the usage of different kinds of feedstock. The study developed in this work focused on a single screw extrusion head in which feedstock is supplied on powder form. The use of polymeric powder with fillers and additives supports the exploration and improvement of material engineering applications, including 4D printing. The first step was the development of an instrumentation system for the in loco monitoring of the temperature profile of the extrusion subset. Thermo-graphic images were generated in order to complement the experimental evaluation of the temperature profile. Simultaneously, a numerical thermal model of the extrusion head was elaborated using a commercial CAE program. The comparison between experimental and preliminary numerical results enabled the fitting of the thermal computational model. The main contribution of this work was to provide a computational thermal model, fitted by experimental procedure, capable of estimating the temperature profile of a modular single screw extrusion head applied to an experimental 3D printer. The iterative fitting between the experimental results and numerical analysis improved the assertiveness of the computational model from 54 to 85%.