High Volume 3D Printer and Developed of High-Volume Extruders for Gelatin and Liquids

Abstract

Over the last decade, the development of 3D printing technology has led to both increased interest and availability of these machines. The steady growth and demand have made 3D printing an affordable and consumer-friendly craft. Due to the shrinking barrier-of-entry, the technology is increasingly integrated into wider areas of science and research, as well as the manufacturing industry in general. The demand for individualized medical solutions is continuously expanding in multiple fields, such as medical training and patient-specific surgical guides—exposing a need for further development of these technologies for mainstream applications. The research areas of material science, life science, biotechnology, and medical applications have greatly benefited from the increasing availability of this technology—especially in regard to 3D printing high viscosity substrates which are biological, biocompatible, or bioresorbable. In this area of research and development, mainly micro-extrusion syringe-based systems are used. However, these extruders are limited to the volume of the utilized syringe. The presented work primary objective was to develop a multi-material 3D printer capable of processing substrates with a wide variety of viscosities, with a particular focus on biological-based substrates. The entire project was developed with an open-source mindset—with the intent of furthering future research possibilities within this space. A coreXY printer (0.5x0.5x0.5 m) was developed, including an automatic tool changing mechanism. A peristaltic pump and ink jet extruder were developed and manufactured to improve their processability for additive manufacturing and extrusion of hydrogels and as well as liquids.