Approach for Mechanical Isotropic Material Extrusion Printing

This paper presents a novel approach to mitigate anisotropic material behavior in Material Extrusion (MEX) components, using fused granulate modeling (FGM) as fabrication technique and standard injection molding feedstock as material. This method, further named as the "Voxelfill-process" disrupts the conventional layer-by-layer deposition by introducing a volumetric chamber-filling technique and therefore aims to achieve isotropic properties in additive manufacturing (AM). This applies for both unfilled and fiber-reinforced thermoplastic polymers.
The initial section of the paper articulates the motivation behind this study, providing an overview of the challenges posed by anisotropy in MEX processes. Following this, the Voxelfill process is briefly analyzed, with insights on its integration into slicing software and the hardware modifications necessary for implementation.
The core focus of this study is to assess the mechanical performance of 30% glass fiber-reinforced PETG parts by fabricating tensile test specimens using the Voxelfill method and comparing them with specimens produced through conventional layer-by-layer printing. Results demonstrate that the Voxelfill process reduces anisotropy from 56.71% to 13.47%. These findings underscore the potential of the Voxelfill process to substantially mitigate anisotropic behavior in MEX components.
The paper concludes with a discussion on future directions to further optimize and validate the benefits of the Voxelfill process, paving the way for enhanced reproducibility and performance in additive manufacturing applications.

Presentation language: EN