Preventing 3D printer jams with texture analysis

3D printing is all the rage for a good reason. In the past few years, we have seen many exciting 3D printed applications such as medicines, food, clothing, and medical devices. The possibilities for innovative new 3D print applications seem limitless. 

If you’re not sure how 3D printing works, here’s a quick introduction. A 3D printer is essentially an industrial robot that makes (or “prints”) a three dimensional object from a digital file. 3D printers create objects by laying down successive layers of a filament material (typically a polymer, metal, or powder) to form an entire object.

Like most printers, 3D printers are subject to technical issues. Printer blockages are common. Blockages often originate with printer filament. We were pleased to see a recent study detailing how texture analysis can be instrumental in determining the physical characteristics of a filament that is less likely to create printer blockages. Take a look at the abstract below:

“Development of a Simple Mechanical Screening Method for Predicting the Feedability of a Pharmaceutical FDM 3D Printing Filament.
The filament-based feeding mechanism employed by the majority of fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printers dictates that the materials must have very specific mechanical characteristics. Without a suitable mechanical profile, the filament can cause blockages in the printer. The purpose of this study was to develop a method to screen the mechanical properties of pharmaceutically-relevant, hot-melt extruded filaments to predetermine their suitability for FDM. A texture analyzer was used to simulate the forces a filament is subjected to inside the printer. The texture analyzer produced a force-distance curve referred to as the flexibility profile. Principal Component Analysis and Correlation Analysis statistical methods were then used to compare the flexibility profiles of commercial filaments to in-house made filaments.”

Read more about this study here:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5982458/

To read more about 3D printing applications and texture analysis check out the links below:

• Creating Better Medicines Through 3D Printing
• 3D Printed Mouth Guards for Oral Drug Delivery

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