Influence of the single-screw extruder nozzle diameter on pellet-based filaments for additive manufacturing

Based on advancements of the additive manufacturing technology, also called 3D printing, this research aims to address the question about how the setup of process parameters related to a single-screw extruder influences on the fabrication process and its resulting product. To perform this study, two different sizes (o1,75 mm and o 3,0 mm) of extrusion nozzles have been used for different sets of parameters, making it possible to highlight their influences and also, to determine in an empirical way, the equations that drives the mass and volumetric flow rates of this machinery. In this sense, it seeks to determine the degree of influence of the process parameters of internal pressure, rotation and diameter of the extruder nozzle on the density of the ABS-extruded coupons fabricated through a single-screw extruder. During this investigation process, low-cost instrumentation and cloud technologies were embedded to monitoring a traditional thermoplastic extrusion process. Thus, this contribution intends to improve the FDM method, specifically in single-screw extruders by the technique of FPM (fused pellet modeling), based on the technical characteristics of the polymeric-extruded filaments to be applied on 3D printers, favoring the reduction of setup times, improving the mechanical properties and providing a better quality of printed parts. Coupled to that, the embedded IoT-inspired monitoring system can manage the process related to geometry of the polymeric parts and its quality, in order to expand the understanding of the machinery and to ensure a greater productivity and better quality products to be used on additive manufacturing technology.