Lines for the production and testing of filaments for 3D printers > Filament lines for 3D printers

Filament production line with fi 2x24mm extruder

Line for the production of filaments for 3D printers

Filament production lines for 3D printers with a 2 x 24 mm twin-screw extruder

The production of fusible fibers for 3D printers is a highly valued technology. It launched industrial innovation, ensuring cost-effective production of a wide range of fibers (filaments) necessary for 3D printers operating using FDM additive printing technology. Fused fiber fabrication is one of the most widely used technologies that has found the maximum number of applications in all types of manufacturing sectors, including biomedical, aerospace, automotive, pharmaceutical, construction, electrical and electronic food and various others. Thanks to the highest level of printing flexibility and profitability, it maintains the largest share in the 3D printing industry.

Filament for 3D printers is produced by free extrusion. This is one of the most difficult processing techniques by extrusion, due to the particularly large impact of process parameters on the dimensions of the product. Due to the high quality requirements for the product, which is the filament for 3D printers, when introducing a new material into production, the selection of processing parameters is made using the experimental method. The introduction of any changes to the material recipe and processing conditions (process and ambient temperatures, raw material drying efficiency, line configuration) will affect the quality of the filament.

For the above reasons, the filament production line must be built with devices with high technical parameters. It is important to be able to precisely and at the same time repeatably set [adjust] all device parameters; such as temperatures [extruders, water in tubs, pressures, extruder speeds, material pumps, extraction].

The use of a twin-screw extruder instead of a single-screw extruder in the filament extrusion line for 3D printers opens up new possibilities for filament production.

Twin screw extruder has high mixing capacity. This is because it has a wide range of specialized screw segment designs, such as kneading blocks, back-pressing elements, mixing elements, conveying elements, etc.
This design factor allows the extruder to precisely and accurately match the configuration to processing needs.
When it comes to controlling the parameters of the entire process, twin screw extruders are much better than single screw extruders. This includes shorter residence time, higher convective heat transfer, control of mixing, shear and fine control of the temperature profile.

Due to the positive pumping action of the screws, twin screw extruders can handle a wide variety of raw materials and blend recipes, including complex recipes.
The use of side feeders makes it possible to fill the plastic alloy with mineral and metallic powders.
By using a twin-screw extruder in the filament line, we omit the granulation process and the need to melt the granulate again.

Filament lines equipped with a 2x24 mm twin-screw extruder or another from the Zamak Mercator offer enable direct extrusion of filament with additives or filled with powders, fibers or other materials. This is possible due to the extensive equipment offered for twin-screw extruders.

Requirements for lines for the production of filament used in 3D printing.

Since filaments for 3D printers working with the use of FDM technology are subject to very high requirements regarding uniformity, diameter and ovality, the lines used for their production must also meet high requirements:

Industrial lines for the production of filament for 3D printers must have a modular structure susceptible to modifications of devices and the manufacturing process. All devices used in the line must be easy to clean.
The extruder used in the line must have a high ability to extrude a homogeneous alloy of high homogeneity. Parameters such as screw rotational speed, feeding zone temperatures, temperatures of plasticizing system zones should be very stable over long periods. This requires the use of modern drives with high stability and allowing to regulate the rotational speed in a wide range the extruder cylinder heating and cooling systems are also high. This system should be well designed and good quality temperature regulators should be used, preferably in the form of an industrial PLC controller. The control program should allow for the adjustment of the thermal profile of the device to the production process. line elements.
The line should be equipped with a molten plastic pump in order to limit plastic pressure pulsations and ensure a stable outflow of plastic from the head. It should be possible to use the line without the use of a plastic pump. The pump should be equipped with a precise and stable melt temperature control system and pressure transducers used at the pump input and output .
The head is the element of the line which, depending on the forming tool, determines the final shape of the extruded line (filament) All parts in contact with the plastic are subjected to a nitriding process, which allows for high abrasion resistance The head is heated with band heaters and has slots for connection of temperature sensors and pressure sensor The head to the plastic pump or extruder should be fastened with a wedge closure.
The head forming the line for 3D printers has two tools for producing the line with diameters of 1.75 mm and 2.85 mm The head is electrically heated The accuracy of the diameter of the extruded filament is not worse than ±0.05 [mm] Changing the tool is easy and does not require the use of specialized tools All head elements in contact with plastic are nitrided to a hardness of 1000oHV and to a depth of not less than 0.5 mm.
The line should be equipped with two extruded filament cooling tubs.
- The first bath should ensure the calibration of the extruded filament at the entrance to the water in order to improve the shape and maintain the required diameter. and the process water circuit should allow precise regulation of the flow.
- The second tub in the line is designed to cool the filament and should be equipped with a filament drying system. The process and cooling water circuits should be separated by a heat exchanger, and the process water circuit should allow for precise flow regulation. The cooling water flow should not cause vibrations of the cooled filament.
Caterpillar lashing is a universal solution, because it allows the transport of profiles with different cross-sections, not just filament.The haul-back is a very important element of the line, because it is also responsible for the dimensional accuracy of the monofilament or filament. Precise control of the linear speed allows for very precise adjustment of the filament dimensions. The crawler haul-off works with a measuring device. in such a way as to ensure the dimensional stability of the extruded fishing line or filament. The extractor should have a pair of caterpillars with adjustable distance symmetrically in relation to the monofilament. The adjustment of the caterpillar distance should be precise. The measurement of the mutual distance of the caterpillars should also be precise. from an independent touchscreen operator panel, it is a very useful solution due to the considerable distance of the exhaust from the extruder.
A laser gauge with an integrated measurement display should be used to measure the diameter of the line in two or three axes, for transparent and non-transparent lines.
The vertical compensator is in fact an extruded line magazine that receives the extruded line when changing spools on a twin-spindle winder. The compensator allows the operator to easily change the spool without interrupting the extrusion process.
The filament winder enables winding in the technological line It should be equipped with an easy-to-use and reliable spool mounting mechanism It should be equipped with a filament winding length counter and a tension gauge that ensures constant and stable filament tension All winder functions are controlled from an independent touchscreen operator panel equipped with a digital controller PLCThe use of a touch screen facilitates operation, because the operator is not forced to approach the main operator panel usually placed next to the extruder.

The technical and operational requirements for the line for the production of filament for 3D printers are not small, therefore the software that allows you to manage all devices working in the line should provide:

Continuous control and visualization of extrusion parameters such as: pressure, temperature, rotation, torque, energy consumption.
Enable control and control of the process and line devices.
You can add to this the ability to save parameters to the database for later analysis and archiving, displaying graphs on-line and work in the plant network and even globally. The ability to transmit operating parameters via Ethernet to any place for computers, tablets, etc.
The line's software should be able to adapt to customer expectations.
The line can be supervised and serviced via Ethernet [Internet].
The line can be controlled wirelessly from a tablet [option].

We have made every effort to ensure that the information about our products is factually correct. Please treat the technical data of the devices as indicative, because we constantly improve our products, adapting them to changing technologies. The presented offer is informative and does not constitute an offer within the meaning of the Civil Code

Filament production line with fi 2x24mm extruder

Requirements for lines for the production of filament used in 3D printing.

Since filaments for 3D printers working with the use of FDM technology are subject to very high requirements regarding uniformity, diameter and ovality, the lines used for their production must also meet high requirements:

Industrial lines for the production of filament for 3D printers must have a modular structure susceptible to modifications of devices and the manufacturing process. All devices used in the line must be easy to clean.

The line should be equipped with two extruded filament cooling tubs.

A laser gauge with an integrated measurement display should be used to measure the diameter of the line in two or three axes, for transparent and non-transparent lines.

The vertical compensator is in fact an extruded line magazine that receives the extruded line when changing spools on a twin-spindle winder. The compensator allows the operator to easily change the spool without interrupting the extrusion process.

The technical and operational requirements for the line for the production of filament for 3D printers are not small, therefore the software that allows you to manage all devices working in the line should provide:

Continuous control and visualization of extrusion parameters such as: pressure, temperature, rotation, torque, energy consumption.

Enable control and control of the process and line devices.

You can add to this the ability to save parameters to the database for later analysis and archiving, displaying graphs on-line and work in the plant network and even globally. The ability to transmit operating parameters via Ethernet to any place for computers, tablets, etc.

The line's software should be able to adapt to customer expectations.

The line can be supervised and serviced via Ethernet [Internet].

The line can be controlled wirelessly from a tablet [option].

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