A METHOD FOR PRINTING A 3D OBJECT USING FIBER BUNDLES

Abstract: the present invention relates to a method for manufactur-ing a 3d item by means of fused deposition modelling. the method comprises the steps of providing a 3d printable material (), feeding the 3d printable material into a printer head () via an entrance opening (), melting the 3d printable material in the printer head, and layer-wise depositing the 3d printable material to provide the 3d item comprising a plurality of layers () of 3d printed material. the 3d printable material () comprises a filament assembly of a plurality of filaments. at the entrance opening of the printer head and in a cross section perpendicular to a direction of elongation of the filament assembly, (i) the filament assembly has a smallest bounding circle with a smallest bounding diameter and a smallest bounding circumference, (ii) each filament has a filament diameter and a filament circumference, and (iii) the plurality of filaments has a compound filament circumference, the compound filament circumference being the sum of the filament circumferences. the smallest bounding diameter is in a range of 1 millimeter to 1 centimeter, and the filament diameter is equal to or smaller than 500 micrometers. furthermore, the ratio of the compound filament circumference and the smallest bounding circumference is higher than 1. the method further comprises the step of drying the plurality of filaments before the step of feeding the 3d printable material into a printer head via an entrance opening. instead of using a single-filament printable material, the method of the invention uses a multi-filament printable material with an increased surface area, which in turn results in a reduced drying time of the printable material as a whole.

Inventor(s): RIFAT ATA MUSTAFA HIKMET, TIES VAN BOMMEL

CPC Classification: B29C64/118 (SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING (making preforms ; making laminated products by combining previously unconnected layers which become one product whose layers will remain together - ))

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