Design of a throat-extended FDM extruder for multi-axis 3D printing

Liu, Hao (author), Liu, Zhoupeng (author), Hao, Siting (author)

Multi-axis fused deposition modelling (FDM) 3D printing technology has been paid attention to by more and more people. However, existing FDM extruders are usually short and fat, which significantly restricts the popularization of multi-axis FDM 3D printing technology because one significant trend of additive manufacturing is the use of long and thin extruders to avoid collisions between extruders and workpieces in the printing process. This paper presents the design of a throat-extended FDM extruder to print complex-shaped workpieces with details. The main contributions in this paper include: (i) presenting a novel extruder structure including an extended-throat, a smaller heater block, and a cooling mini-fan; (ii) designing an optimized heater block using the shapes of its components and the milling tool as constraints to make its volume as little small as possible; (iii) Construct experimental and simulation methods to examine the temperature distribution of the throat to optimize the shapes of the heat dams of nozzle throats and the wind speed of the heat-dissipation fan. Based on the throat-extended FDM extruder, a five-axis FDM 3D printer has been developed, and various complex-shaped workpieces have been printed without any support.

• Language: English
• Keywords: 3D printing, FDM, extruder, design, multi-axis, throat
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FS - Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2021
• Number of pages: Str.180-190
• Numbering: Vol. 67, no. 4
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-128365
• UDC: 621.79:004.925.84
• ISSN on article: 0039-2480
• DOI: 10.5545/sv-jme.2021.7124
• COBISS.SI-ID: 69863939
• Publication date in RUL: 09.07.2021

LIU, Hao, LIU, Zhoupeng and HAO, Siting, 2021, Design of a throat-extended FDM extruder for multi-axis 3D printing. Strojniški vestnik [online]. 2021. Vol. 67, no. 4, p. 180–190. [Accessed 11 April 2025]. DOI 10.5545/sv-jme.2021.7124. Retrieved from: https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/IzpisGradiva.php?lang=eng&id=128365

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Strojniški vestnik
• Shortened title: Stroj. vestn.
• Publisher: Zveza strojnih inženirjev in tehnikov Slovenije [etc.], = Association of Mechanical Engineers and Technicians of Slovenia [etc.
• ISSN: 0039-2480
• COBISS.SI-ID: 762116

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Konstruiranje ekstrudorja s podaljšanim grlom za večosno 3D-tiskanje FDM
• Keywords: 3D-tiskanje, FDM, ekstrudor, konstruiranje, večosni, grlo

Projects

• Funder: Other - Other funder or multiple funders
• Funding programme: National Natural Science Foundation of China
• Project number: 51975281

• Funder: Other - Other funder or multiple funders
• Funding programme: National Natural Science Foundation of China
• Project number: 51705183