MIT Tech Allows 3D Printers to Adapt to New Materials on the Fly

As 3D printing becomes more popular, its sustainability problem gets more attention. People cannot recycle many of the most readily available materials used during the process. Also, users must tweak the printer parameters every time they use different types. That reality may make it prohibitively cumbersome to do anything besides continuing to use non-recyclable options. However, technology developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) could change things. 

Self-Identification of a Material’s Parameters 

The extruder is fundamental to a 3D printer’s results because it controls how a material dispenses to create items. Researchers from MIT worked with others at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Greece’s National Center for Scientific Research to modify a printer’s extrusion component to make the machine easier to set up when working with lesser-known materials.

When someone sets up a 3D printer for the first time, they must calibrate it and lubricate the machine’s moving parts. However, new materials make things significantly more complicated. Most mass-manufactured polymers used for printing provide suggested parameters to make the extruder perform best with the particular material. But people don’t have that information and must rely on trial and error when working with newer or less-common options. 

The research team tackled this issue by enabling the extruder to self-identify materials. First, that component measures a material’s forces and flow rate. Then, that data gets fed into a mathematical function that automatically suggests the correct parameters, even for lesser-known materials or those used for the first time. 

Capturing Data and Applying Mathematics

Usually, a person must set up to 100 parameters associated with those options. However, this approach reduces approximately half of the manual settings people must enter. 

The researchers started by altering a previously created 3D printer with a data-capturing extruder that gives feedback while it operates. They added new instruments to get the required material-recognition properties: A load cell measures the exerted pressure on the filament, and a feed-rate sensor determines the material’s thickness and how fast it moves through the printer. 

Measuring those specifics would allow for calculating the flow rate and temperature. Those two aspects are among the most critical but hardest to determine. Additionally, since almost half of the printing parameters relate to them, the researchers knew accurate data would make a big difference in results and efficiency. 

The extruder gathers the data through a 20-minute test that provides temperature and pressure readings at different flow rates. This analysis sets the printer nozzle at the maximum temperature and pushes the material through it at a constant rate before turning off the heating element and recording passive measurements. 

As the researchers developed this method, they often tested and even broke the extruder’s limits. However, their eventual process of passive measurement gathering after deactivating the heater proved feasible for collecting the data without damaging the component. 

The mathematical function examines the relative temperature and pressure data and creates printer configuration parameters for the chosen material. Once people get them, they can enter those details into commercially available 3D printing software and start working.

Successful Tests

The research team experimented with six renewable and bio-based materials, finding their innovation performed well with them all when the printer made complex objects. The senior author of a research paper about the work said the project’s goal was to make 3D printing more sustainable.

Ideally, someone could shred whatever plastic material they have and print with it. However, that goal is too far out of reach for now because each option requires different parameters.

This recent work could at least make it significantly easier for people to print with eco-friendly materials efficiently. Most popular resins and non-recyclable polymers come from fossil fuels. The research shows another way forward that could fit into an Earth-centered future and expand possibilities for beginners and those highly experienced with 3D printing.

The Current Challenges of Printing With Sustainable Materials

Getting good results with a 3D printer can be a complex process. Adding nitrogen during the process displaces oxygen to prevent unwanted interactions with the materials or laser. People must also determine whether their printed designs need removable supports to keep the items in their shapes when on print beds. Other considerations become apparent when creating things with sustainable materials, and some depend on the printer used.

For example, a fused filament fabrication (FFF) printer pushes molten materials through a heated extruder to create parts by adding numerous layers. Specialized software gives the printer operating commands, but it needs material-specific instructions. A person might not have those if trying a material for the first time. 

Things become even more complicated when using renewable or recycled products to make 3D-printed components because numerous variables could affect the outcome. Seasonality or a manufacturer’s location could affect the specific plants used in bio-based products. A recycling centre’s capabilities or the products that end up in the facility could also impact the availability of some non-virgin polymer materials.

Some companies offer highly specific sustainable 3D printing materials, as well. Consider the example of a startup that sells compostable and biodegradable options to the fashion industry. It manufactures one bio-based product as filament or pellets and a stylist used the material to create a 3D-printed, tree root-inspired sandal. People associated with this business target the fashion industry because it traditionally uses so much plastic. 

Offering decision-makers a greener alternative could cause lasting changes. However, if those leaders decide printing with different materials is too complicated, they’ll likely keep making unsustainable choices. 

What’s Next for This Printing Innovation? 

Since experiments showed this adapted extruder works well, the researchers plan to improve it further. They’ll try to integrate it with existing printing software, removing the need for people to make manual adjustments after getting the parameters. Moreover, the group will examine using a thermodynamic model that melts the filament. This work may also enhance other manufacturing methods. 

Whatever the future holds, current progress is promising because it uses several bio-based materials with good results in each case. In addition to supporting sustainability, this achievement could give manufacturers more options during shortages that make printing with their preferred supplies difficult or impossible.