Mathematical modeling and experimental study of material flow and torque in the extrusion-based additive manufacturing of granulated polymer

Fused deposition modeling (FDM) method is one of the most common additive manufacturing techniques for printing polymer parts. However, it requires pre-formed filaments for printing which limits the variety of the materials that can be printed. The alternative is direct melting of granulated polymer...

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Main Authors: Mohammad Mahdi Salehi, Mohammad Reza Movahhedy
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Results in Engineering
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123025012721
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author Mohammad Mahdi Salehi
Mohammad Reza Movahhedy
author_facet Mohammad Mahdi Salehi
Mohammad Reza Movahhedy
author_sort Mohammad Mahdi Salehi
collection DOAJ
description Fused deposition modeling (FDM) method is one of the most common additive manufacturing techniques for printing polymer parts. However, it requires pre-formed filaments for printing which limits the variety of the materials that can be printed. The alternative is direct melting of granulated polymer pellets in an extrusion chamber and deposition of the extruded to make parts. This method opens the way for using various materials including almost all polymers and polymer-metal or polymer-ceramic composites in direct or indirect additive manufacturing. However, there are challenges in setting the parameters of the extruder and adjustment of the material flow. This article presents an analysis of material flow in the extruder used for direct pellet-printing of Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) parts. The material in the extruder is divided into the melting and the melted zones. In the melting zone, the thickness of the melt increases gradually, whereas in the melted zone, pressure gradient is developed in the fully melted polymer. Characteristic specifications of extruder such as operating pressure, screw rotational speed, material flow and the required torque for rotating the screw are derived for extruding ABS polymer. The extrusion-based injection system was built up and is used in a test setup for validation of the simulation results. Good correlation between the experimental and theoretical results is obtained.
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spelling doaj-art-b08fb92cb8d7476c8dae87d08b0ffbc22025-08-20T01:49:39ZengElsevierResults in Engineering2590-12302025-06-012610519810.1016/j.rineng.2025.105198Mathematical modeling and experimental study of material flow and torque in the extrusion-based additive manufacturing of granulated polymerMohammad Mahdi Salehi0Mohammad Reza Movahhedy1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, IranCorresponding author.; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, IranFused deposition modeling (FDM) method is one of the most common additive manufacturing techniques for printing polymer parts. However, it requires pre-formed filaments for printing which limits the variety of the materials that can be printed. The alternative is direct melting of granulated polymer pellets in an extrusion chamber and deposition of the extruded to make parts. This method opens the way for using various materials including almost all polymers and polymer-metal or polymer-ceramic composites in direct or indirect additive manufacturing. However, there are challenges in setting the parameters of the extruder and adjustment of the material flow. This article presents an analysis of material flow in the extruder used for direct pellet-printing of Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) parts. The material in the extruder is divided into the melting and the melted zones. In the melting zone, the thickness of the melt increases gradually, whereas in the melted zone, pressure gradient is developed in the fully melted polymer. Characteristic specifications of extruder such as operating pressure, screw rotational speed, material flow and the required torque for rotating the screw are derived for extruding ABS polymer. The extrusion-based injection system was built up and is used in a test setup for validation of the simulation results. Good correlation between the experimental and theoretical results is obtained.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123025012721Additive manufacturingScrew assistedPelletMaterial flowTorque
spellingShingle Mohammad Mahdi Salehi
Mohammad Reza Movahhedy
Mathematical modeling and experimental study of material flow and torque in the extrusion-based additive manufacturing of granulated polymer
Results in Engineering
Additive manufacturing
Screw assisted
Pellet
Material flow
Torque
title Mathematical modeling and experimental study of material flow and torque in the extrusion-based additive manufacturing of granulated polymer
title_full Mathematical modeling and experimental study of material flow and torque in the extrusion-based additive manufacturing of granulated polymer
title_fullStr Mathematical modeling and experimental study of material flow and torque in the extrusion-based additive manufacturing of granulated polymer
title_full_unstemmed Mathematical modeling and experimental study of material flow and torque in the extrusion-based additive manufacturing of granulated polymer
title_short Mathematical modeling and experimental study of material flow and torque in the extrusion-based additive manufacturing of granulated polymer
title_sort mathematical modeling and experimental study of material flow and torque in the extrusion based additive manufacturing of granulated polymer
topic Additive manufacturing
Screw assisted
Pellet
Material flow
Torque
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123025012721
work_keys_str_mv AT mohammadmahdisalehi mathematicalmodelingandexperimentalstudyofmaterialflowandtorqueintheextrusionbasedadditivemanufacturingofgranulatedpolymer
AT mohammadrezamovahhedy mathematicalmodelingandexperimentalstudyofmaterialflowandtorqueintheextrusionbasedadditivemanufacturingofgranulatedpolymer