High Temperature Plastics 3D Printer System

Overview

PEEK (poly ether ether ketone) is a material that has been used in injection molding manufacturing for years but still has the problem of being 3D printed for the complex structures that are needed to bring down cost for using this material. With the material PEEK there needs to be a dedicated system that will provide the perfect environment for printing this material.

Objectives

The end goal of this project is to have a system with capabilities like none that currently exist for materials like PEEK, a nonmetallic high-strength polymer to be printed at high temperatures for aerospace, medical and automotive applications.

Approach

• • We looked at assorted styles of printers to check the types of structures we could make 
  • Look at how other printers are printing PEEK 
  • model a design that includes a high temp chamber for crystallization 
  • research parts and the best Fit parts for High temperatures 
  • Build the Structure and test mechanical parts as they were coming in from the shop 
  • test Electrical to ensure they meet technical specs  
  • Assemble the Structure and Wiring 
  • Test programming for E-Stop 
  • Test printing accuracy 
  • The sponsor gave us a task to print (PEEK) material into a tensile bar  
  • Thermal bed simulation for temperature well kept at 350 degrees centigrade 
  • Our cad models are made in solid works 
  • About all of the printer is fabricated in-house at Penn State Behrend 
  • Our testing was performed by the system printing a 20cm^3 block to check dimensional accuracy 
  • Our model results were checked by the accuracy of the printer and the safety system in the line  

Outcomes

• The high Temparture 3D thermal plastics printer will be used for testing High-temperature polymers for printing different structures for best strength capabilities.
• The Penn State Behrend Plastics Research Team will see if different high temp polymers will have a crystallizing structure of the material when tested under different temperatures to ensure that the 3D thermal printer will keep its temperature accuracy