3D Printing With Reinforced Ceramics
3D printer
Team 19’s objective is to retrofit an existing 3D printer that will be capable of extruding a liquid polymer precursor. The 3D printer will also have UV LED’s surrounding the print stage in order to cure the polymer as it extrudes. The 3D printer that was selected by the team is called the “LulzBot TAZ 4.” The method of printing is called fused deposition modeling and it essentially works like a hot glue gun, where a thermoplastic filament is fed into the heated extruder head and prints extremely fine beads on the extrusion path. The overall dimensions of the printer is 26.8in x 20.5in x 20.3in. There is no enclosure around the printer and it is open source, making it the best choice for this specific project.
Print Material
The print material consists of slurry of materials, but the main component is a polymer based ceramic. This material has a very low viscosity and may be cured by heat or an exposure to UV radiation. Applications for the print material are to use it to make ceramic composites. The polymer will also be mixed with a UV curing reagent in efforts to increase the curing time, and CNT will be introduced to enhance mechanical properties.
CNT alignment
A small volume mass of carbon nanotubes will be added to the polymer mix. The best method for CNT alignment would be by mechanical stretching. However, this method is not applicable for this particular project. Another method that may be used is alignment by magnets, but this would require at least 5 Tesla’s to induce alignment. Lastly, electrospinning may be performed to create alignment. This method requires very high voltages and may be dangerous when testing.