On the suitability of induction heating system for metal additive manufacturing

Abstract

Induction heating is a non-contact-based energy source that has the potential to quickly melt the metal and become the alternate energy source that can be used for additive manufacturing. At present, induction heating is widely used in various industrial applications such as melting, preheating, heat treatment, welding, and brazing. The potential of this source has not been explored in the additive manufacturing domain. However, the use of induction heating in additive manufacturing could lead to low-cost part fabrication as compared to other energy sources such as laser or electron beam. Therefore, this study explores the feasibility of this energy source in additive manufacturing for fabricating parts of metallic materials. An experimental system has been developed by modifying an existing delta three-dimensional printer. An induction heater coil has been incorporated to extruder head for semi-solid processing of the metal alloy. In order to test the viability of the developed system, aluminium material in the filament form has been processed. Obtained results have shown that the induction heating–based energy source is capable of processing metallic materials having a melting point up to 1000° C. The continuous extrusion of the material has been achieved by controlling the extruder temperature using a proportional integral derivative–based controller and k-type thermocouple. The study also discusses various issues and challenges that occurred during the melting of metal with induction heating. The outcomes of this study may be a breakthrough in the area of metal-based additive manufacturing.

Engineering biomaterials to 3D-print scaffolds for bone regeneration: practical and theoretical consideration

“…106 Among the more than 40 different 3D printing techniques available today, fused filament fabrication (FFF), selective laser sintering (SLS), stereolithography (SLA) or digital light processing (DLP), and direct ink writing (DIW) techniques are the most widely adopted fabrication techniques for scaffold manufacturing. [107][108][109][110] In addition, the 3D bio printing technique could create 3D living artificial bio implants or complex tissues by simultaneous deposition of living cells and ECM in a predefined pattern inside a controlled environment. 111 There has been a major focus on the development of biocompatible materials that could be directly extruded through the syringe or nozzle of a 3D printer for the fabrication of biocompatible scaffolds.…”

Numerical and experimental analysis of heat transfer in inductive conduction based wire metal deposition process

“…A detailed description of the experimental setup could be found in one of our research work. 42 A excitation current of 200 A intensity with a frequency of 100 kHz is supplied to the coil which heats the extruder. On reaching a controlled extruder temperature of 600 � C, the aluminium material in wire form is fed at the material feed rate of 120 mm/min.…”

Tailoring coil geometry for secondary heating of substrate towards the development of induction heating-based wire additive manufacturing

“…The existing fused deposition modelling (FDM) machine is also converted into an IH-WAM process by replacing the resistive heating unit with a conventional induction coil. The modified FDM machine is then used to print low melting point aluminium alloy [11]. Most of the work is associated with a conventional induction coil, which cannot melt the wire and simultaneously raise the substrate temperature close to the melting point.…”