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.