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The development of a framework to produce additively manufactured, low-cost aluminum via material extrusion process

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Abstract

In the last half century, 3D printing – or additive manufacturing (AM) – has emerged as an efficient and cost-effective method for both large scale and consumer level manufacturing. While technology exists at the professional level for AM of metals, this equipment is cost-prohibitive for the average user, and as such the consumer field is mostly limited to plastics and some plastic-fiber composites. A promising area of study is in plastic-metal composite materials printed using material extrusion (MEX), which are sintered post-printing to remove the plastic binder and yield a solid metal part. One such material, a mixture of polylactic acid (PLA) and aluminum, would prove useful for several reasons. PLA is one of the easiest materials to produce with MEX, making it a good matrix for this composite. As well, aluminum is one of the most widely used metals in industry due to its low cost, high strength to weight ratio, and good corrosion resistance. Being able to additively manufacture parts using this method would avoid many of the limitations associated with traditional manufacturing, produce less waste material, and allow for the average consumer to produce functional and strong parts using readily available technology. However, little research exists on sintering aluminum parts produced with this method, with initial findings suggesting that the equipment and processes needed for this are outside the reach of the average consumer. This research study explores the feasibility of using this method to produce accurate and useable parts, examining the printing parameters to use for most reliable sintering and best post-sinter quality, along with what is needed to achieve successful sintering of printed parts.

Highlights

Surface roughness of aluminum-PLA composite filaments is affected by both print settings and the inherent roughness of the material.

Controlling oxidation of the aluminum is a main limiting factor in achieving successful sintering of parts.

Sintering of the material used in this study is more cost-prohibitive and technically challenging than initially expected, with materials and equipment required that are outside the scope of the average consumer.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to Orkhan Huseynov, Mohammad Alshaikh Ali, and Marshall Norris for advising and helping on this project. Authors also want to thank Micah Midgett for his assistance running SEM analysis. Special thanks are conveyed to the Tennessee Technological University Creative Inquiry Summer Experience (CISE) grant program for funding this research study.

Funding

Funding for this research was provided by the Creative Inquiry Summer Experience (CISE) program at Tennessee Technological University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tennessee Technological University, 1 William L Jones, Cookeville, TN, 38505, USA

    Elijah Hudson

  2. Department of Manufacturing and Engineering Technology, Tennessee Technological University, 1 William L Jones, Cookeville, TN, 38505, USA

    Ismail Fidan

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  1. Elijah Hudson
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  2. Ismail Fidan
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Correspondence to Ismail Fidan.

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Hudson, E., Fidan, I. The development of a framework to produce additively manufactured, low-cost aluminum via material extrusion process. Int J Interact Des Manuf (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12008-024-01813-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12008-024-01813-2

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