Aerosol-based 3D Printing to Improve Resolution and Simplicity
SHALINEE KAVADIYA, Pratim Biswas,
University of Miami Abstract Number: 383
Working Group: Nanoparticles and Materials Synthesis
Abstract3D printing processes have made manufacturing and designing easier and faster because of their cost-effectiveness, automation, and production times. There are several 3D printing processes from simple to complex and developed based on material feedstock. Essential characteristics to consider for a 3D printing process are – resolution, simplicity, and feed material. The simplest 3D printer, which can be found in several homes now a days, is a fused deposition modeling (FDM) printer. FDM printers are easy to operate but only take polymer filament feed and can print a maximum resolution of 100 µm. Powder bed fusion, which is a common process for 3D printing metals, is complex and requires a high-power laser and enclosure.
In this work, we developed a simple 3D printing process that can print small length scales (< 50 µm) and does not require any special environment during printing. As a test, we printed 3D structures with polyethylene glycol with a print size of 41 µm. The printing feedstock is generated using an aerosol process which enables printing finer length scales. Further, the feedstock can be controlled at any time to print the desired resolution and material. There are several important process parameters that control print resolution and quality. These will be discussed in the presentation. Our goals in developing this technique are – 1) to improve the printing resolution of polymer 3D printing retaining the process simplicity and 2) to build a simple 3D printer for metal 3D printing that can print at high resolutions.
Reference Kavadiya and Biswas (2022), Improving the resolution and simplicity through aerosol processes, in preparation.