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In the fused filament fabrication (FFF) process, filament buckling occurs during the
processing of elastomers. Elastomer filament buckles between the rollers and liquefier head due to
flexibility hence make difficult elastomer processing and extrusion through as mall nozzle. In this
paper, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), an elastomer has been processed through the in-house
developed CNC assisted material deposition tool (MDT). Instead of the filament, the developed
system processes the material in the pellet form, which overcomes the limitations of FFF process in
elastomer processing. An experimental study has been carried out to find the suitable set of process
parameters setting for part fabrication. The fabricated parts show the flexibility similar to rubber,
which is suitable for various end-use applications. The present study outcome shows that EVA
material has the potential for additive manufacturing of flexible parts.
Keywords: additive manufacturing; 3D printing; pellet; screw extrusion; flexible; CNC milling machine; hybrid manufacturing; EVA. |
full paper (pdf, 1168 Kb)