Optimization of 3D printer enclosure environment

Abstract

Additive manufacturing has become a widely utilized process in industrial, academic, and household applications. Previous studies have demonstrated that non-optimum humidity conditions can adversely impact the print quality of parts printed from plastic filaments by changing their mechanical properties, such as elastic modulus and ultimate strength. This study utilized a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach and experimental testing to design a system that yields a more uniform humidity distribution in a 3-dimensional (3D) printer printing region. The study resulted in an optimized enclosure with significantly higher relative humidity (RH) uniformity in the print volume. The simulations predicted that the optimized enclosure would improve the uniformity by about 65%, while experimental testing pointed to even more significant improvement at about 75%. As a case study, tensile testing of 3D printed specimens made from NinjaFlex© filamenets under the optimum environmental conditions showed 11% higher ultimate strength and more elastic behavior than specimens printed using the baseline model.

Design and development of an environmentally controlled enclosure for a commercial 3D printer

“…ANSYS Fluent models the RH through a multi-species model as a moist air mixture composed of air and water vapor species. The local mass fraction for each species, i , is predicted by applying a convection-diffusion equation (May et al , 2021). Fick's law is used in ANSYS Fluent to model mass diffusion, J , in conservation form, as shown in equation (4) ( Ansys Fluent Fluid Simulation Software , 2022): …”

“…The uniformity of relative inside the enclosure for all configurations was determined using a uniformity metric called relative humidity variance metric (RHV). This metric was originally developed by May et al (2021), and it has been described and detailed in their paper. However, it is presented here briefly.…”

“…Many investigators have used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation to model the RH distribution within controlled volumes (Ascione et al , 2013; Bhabhor and Jani, 2021; Guo et al , 2020; Kim et al , 2008; May et al , 2021; Piscia et al , 2012; Shojaee Nasirabadi et al , 2017). Shojaee Nasirabadi and collaborators developed a model to simulate moisture transfer into a typical electronic enclosure to determine the optimal time and location of the commercial adsorbent inside the enclosure to control the local environment.…”

The Design of 4D‐Printed Hygromorphs: State‐of‐the‐Art and Future Challenges

“…To find adequate printing conditions, May et al. [ 264 ] optimized the environment of the printing enclosure by using numerical tools to improve the tensile strength of the printed specimens.…”

“…The porosity in the specimens was also significantly affected by the conditions of the printing. To find adequate printing conditions, May et al [264] optimized the environment of the printing enclosure by using numerical tools to improve the tensile strength of the printed specimens.…”