Design and Fabrication of PET Filament Making Machine

Abstract

3D printing is a form of additive manufacturing technology where a three-dimensional object is made by layering successive layers of material. It is a mechanized method by which 3D objects are quickly created on an appropriately sized machine, which is connected to a computer containing the blueprints for the object. As 3D printing continues to grow rapidly and drive product development, factories performing 3D printing are increasingly required to meet printing requirements and maintain sufficient inventory of filament. Since manufacturers have to buy these filaments from different vendors, the cost of 3D printing increases. The need for 3D filament making machine arises to overcome the problem faced by the manufacturers, small workshop owners. This project focuses on designing and manufacturing a portable Fused Deposition 3D Printer Filament Making Machine with cheap and readily available components for drawing 1.75mm diameter ABS filament

Introduction

I. INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, 3D printing is a very popular method of rapid prototyping, which creates fully usable models and complete projects. In our university of technology, we are using 3D printing in every project, a lot of parts are small, but we need them to be durable, for example, gear, clutch, motor mounting. Researchers are also exploring means of improving the mechanical properties of prints to create composite filaments.

The possibilities that 3D gives us are irreversible, very low cost, quick step of conversion of computer model into real object, and also, 3D printing allows us to create elements that are not accessible by other means. During prototyping, a lot of material and parts are left as useless in the form of failed prints, poorly designed models, or poor print optimization. Making a perfectly satisfying portion leaves a lot of unused material in the bin.

We are living in an era where tons of waste is generated, including PET bottles in large quantities so that we can combine this waste process with our passion and work. Like other researchers, we aim to reduce our environmental impact and look for means to reuse the material for 3D printing.

This article is about a simple device that allows us to convert unused PET bottles into 3D printer filament. There are many materials available in the market, also PET filament, which is very durable, chemical and temperature resistant, flexible and easy to print.

3D printing is a growing technology and is used all over the world. 3D printing requires the filament to be processed and the cost of the filament governs the cost of the 3D printing product.

Filament extrusion machines are typically available for industrial use, capable of producing filaments hundreds of feet long in a single day. So these filaments are costly for many end users.

With this work, filament extruder will be easily available to small scale industries and colleges.

II. OBJECTIVES

1. Create a plastic filament extruder for 3D printing by designing and developing one.
2. The goal was to make filament with a diameter of 1.75 mm from ABS pellets.
3. Create a 3D printing filament extruder that can be utilised by small-scale manufacturing units, businesses, and universities that have a portable 3D printer on hand.
4. Conduct design calculations in order to guide the creation of a filament-making extruder.

III. METHEDOLOGY

The  methodology  and  stages  in  designing  of  the  proposed model is shown in the Figur

We wanted normal plastic bottles to be tested in 3D printing filament. Here's a summary of the steps we took to test converting PET bottles to filament:

1. Water bottles collected, cleaned (properly) and also removed any extraneous caps or seals.
2. The top of the bottle is trimmed. A long 10mm width  strip  is  made  by  using  the specially designe cutter.
3. The strip width can be regulated depending on the thickness of the material.
4. The next step is to wind the plastic string on the bobbin.
5. The PET was then fed into the filament extruder.
6. After several tests on various nozzle diameters and temperatures, we ended up with a great result of PET Filament

The biggest problem facing 3D printing recycled filament is dirt. With the above experiment, it just took a lot of effort to clean those bottles. Now imagine doing this with a lot of plastic, which often comes from the dumps contaminating all kinds of impurities.

 Also, one has to keep in mind that different types of plastics produce different types of filaments. For example, high-density polyethylene is relatively easy to convert into filament, but difficult to print with, as it shrinks more than other plastics when cooled. PET, on the other hand, prints well but is brittle, making it difficult to spool as a filament.

The process of making of filament is carried out in 3 stages :

1. Cutting section
2. Extrusion section
3. Winding section

A. Design of Cutter

The cutter is made up of metal and had a sharp blade vertically mounted on the cutter for the purpose of cutting of bottle. Apart from that it has following gaps of different dimensions (e.g.5mm, 10mm, etc.) from where the strip is come out. 

B. Design of Heating Block

The heating block is made of regular 3D printing heating block, specially drilled nozzle allows extrusion of filaments with a diameter of 1.75mm. A plastic string passes through the heating block, which is plasticized and then formed by a nozzle into a filament. At the exit of heating block, there is an airflow that cools and cures the newly formed filament. What’s more there is also blue silicon insulator which increases the efficiency of heating. Because of that, all parts are made of plastic which is not resistant to high temperatures. The heating block has two small fans which cool the metal adapter connecting the plastic case to the hot block.

IV. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to thank our guide Prof. Vikrant Dhopte who gave this opportunity to work on this project.

We are learn a lot from this project about  Design and Fabrication of  PET Filament Making Machine.

Conclusion

The prototype of the 3D Printer Filament Extruder was successfully developed. The developed system has the capability to produce filaments from material wasted during the process. The whole setup has been made as small as possible which is a portable and can be adopted for small scale industries and educational institutions as well. This developed product minimizes maintenance; Requires no trained labor and overall reduces the operating cost and investment of the machine. Greater precision and control over the process can be achieved. The real time implementation of this system may require some design changes as per the requirement of the customer.

References

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Copyright

Copyright © 2022 Prof. Vikrant Dhopte, Pranay Khapre, Onkar Bhagat, Himanshu Warhokar. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.