Design and Verification of a Metal 3D Printing Device Based on Contact Resistance Heating

Abstract

As a branch of 3D printing technology, metal 3D printing is an important advanced manufacturing processing method. Metal 3D printing technology has been widely applied in a variety of areas, including the aerospace field, biomedical research and mold manufacturing. This paper proposed a new method for melting metal wires via contact resistance heating. Through the combination of a numerical control technique, a mechanical structure and computer software, a metal 3D printing device was designed based on the principle of fused deposition modeling. The printing nozzle of the device can be heated to over 1400°C in a few minutes. Additionally, we performed experiments with aluminum wire to demonstrate the feasibility of the printing method. The designed consumer-level desktop metal 3D printer cost less than 1500 dollars to fabricate.