Adaptive slicing improves efficiency and surface quality in binder jetting 3D printing.
The VBAA algorithm ensures optimal binder amounts for stable printed parts.
Advances in binder jetting open new application possibilities in various industries.
Adaptive Slicing Enhances Efficiency in Binder Jetting 3D Printing.
Researchers from Ondokuz Mayis University in Turkey have increased the speed of binder jetting 3D printing through adaptive slicing. According to a study published in the journal Rapid Prototyping, binder jetting is expected to experience more growth than any other additive manufacturing technology in the next decade.
What is Binder Jetting?
Binder Jetting is an additive manufacturing process that creates objects by depositing a binding agent onto layers of powder material. Here's a brief overview:
Process:
A thin layer of powder (metal, sand, or ceramic) is spread across the build platform.
A printhead moves across the layer, selectively depositing a liquid binding agent that adheres the powder particles together.
The build platform lowers, and a new layer of powder is spread on top. This process repeats layer by layer.
Materials:
Common materials include metals, ceramics, and sand.
The choice of material depends on the application and desired properties of the final object.
Post-Processing:
After printing, the object is often fragile and requires additional steps like curing, sintering (for metals and ceramics), or infiltration with another material to enhance strength and durability.
Applications:
Widely used in industries such as aerospace, automotive, and healthcare for prototyping, tooling, and manufacturing complex geometries that are difficult to produce with traditional methods.
However, binder jetting’s slower manufacturing speeds compared to conventional methods have hindered its wider adoption. To address this challenge, researchers Hasan Baş, Fatih Yapıcı, and Erhan Ergün employed adaptive slicing and a self-developed variable binder amount algorithm (VBAA).
Slicing is a crucial step in all additive manufacturing processes, translating the digital model into instructions for the 3D printer. Typically, this process uses consistent layer thicknesses throughout the part. In contrast, adaptive slicing creates variable layer thicknesses based on the part’s geometry, increasing efficiency and optimizing surface quality.
Although this method has been used in FDM 3D printing for some time, it has not been fully explored for binder jetting due to its absence from most binder jetting slicers. In their study, the researchers successfully produced high-quality parts with 12.31% fewer layers than those made with uniform slicing.
To achieve optimal results, the researchers used their VBAA algorithm, ensuring the correct amount of binder was applied to each layer. This prevented excess binder from increasing surface roughness or insufficient binder from causing parts to break easily. The Taguchi method, a statistical process used to determine optimal design specifications, was also employed to optimize layer thickness and saturation ratio.
The researchers tested various parameters on 27 samples, which were sintered at 1,500°C for two hours. Subsequent tests measured surface roughness and density. The study also explored affordable image processing methods for measuring surface roughness.
From this initial testing, the researchers identified optimal 3D printing parameters: layer thickness between 180–250 μm and saturation of 50%. Adaptive slicing was then used to 3D print a sample part with these layer thicknesses. This sample was compared to two test parts printed with consistent layer thicknesses of 180 μm and 250 μm, respectively.
The adaptive sliced part had surface roughness values similar to the “thin layer” part and superior to the “thick layer” model. Despite having the same surface quality, the adaptive sliced part was printed with 12.31% fewer layers, increasing efficiency and reducing printing time.
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