For the needs of manufacturing composite filaments, it was necessary to upgrade the filament extrusion machine. The problem with such devices arises from large material losses at the beginning of extrusion (before the diameter settles) and water cooling, which can affect the chemical structure of the particles in the composite filament (corrosion). The goal of the task is a device that could be used to produce composite filaments in small quantities with as little material loss as possible. Such a device should also be provided with cooling, which would prevent corrosion of the composite filament.
We upgraded an comercial extrusion machine with a case with fans for better cooling and designed and manufactured a feeding mechanism, a mechanical 3-axis thickness sensor and a filament spool winding mechanism. We used various cutting technologies, 3D printing, welding and varnishing during production. After production, we created the appropriate hardware and software to control the device. When we finished the device, we tested it by extruding PLA filament. During extrusion, we determined how various parameters affect the quality of the extruded filament and adjusted them accordingly. After we analyzed and set the parameters accordingly, we extruded a quality filament.
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