Fabrication of fine metal patterns using an additive material extrusion process with a molten metal

Abstract

The objective of this work is to establish a volumetric metal 3-dimensional (3D) printing system based on material extrusion method and to fabricate metal patterns by investigating various process variables. Numerical heat transfer simulation was conducted to design the nozzle system with a minimized heat loss at the nozzle tip. Based on the simulation results, a metal 3D printing system with X, Y, and Z stages was constructed. The effects of lead content in molten metals and printing conditions such as stage speed and flow rate were investigated. The line formation like bulged, uniform, and dashed lines was evaluated using an optical microscope, and the variation in line widths of uniform lines was investigated with the process variables. Various types of 2-dimensional (2D) patterns were fabricated with an optimized process variable. A simple 3D structure was obtained to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed system and procedure. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.