Additive Manufacture of Composite Materials

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FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) offers 3D printing’s unparalleled design freedom and fast lead times coupled with strong thermoplastics.

It utilizes strong, engineering-grade materials like ABS, Nylon, PLA,  Polycarbonate and ULTEM™ .

FDM can create production parts and functional prototypes with outstanding thermal and chemical resistance and excellent strength-to-weight ratios.

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is a 3D printing technology widely known for its speed, accuracy, and competitive cost. A machine precisely extrudes melted plastic filament to create a part. Parts are very rigid, especially compared to Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), which makes them a great fit for projects with a rigidity requirement.

Producing parts in FDM is broken up into 3 steps, which includes pre-processing, production, and post-processing.

PRE-PROCESSING:
Printer software slices 3D CAD file into layers. For each slice, the software then converts the data into machine code that determines tool paths for the machine to follow.

PRODUCTION:
An extruder head extrudes liquefied plastic filament along the tool path layer by layer until the part is completed bottom-up.

POST-PROCESSING:
Support material is removed by either dissolving it in water, or breaking it off. More custom finishes such as tapping, inserts, etc. are then applied.