Modeling the Energy and Heating Efficiency of 3D Printing for Composite Materials with Dispersed Volumetric Particles

Additive manufacturing, such as the 3D printing of composite materials for electronics is rapidly evolving, enabling the production of advanced electric and magnetic composites with tailored properties. These materials require special printing conditions and advanced control to maintain the desired material properties during the 3D printing process and in the final product design. Hence, determining the heating and energy consumption and estimating the efficiency of 3D printing is essential. This work modeled the fused filament fabrication 3D printing of composite materials with a polymer carrier matrix. A 3D time-dependent thermal model of a 3D printer extruder was developed and implemented using the finite element method to study and improve the efficiency of 3D printing. As the filler content influences the operational parameters and process energy consumption of the 3D printing process, the transient heating process parameters were estimated using different composite modifier contents. Two types of modifiers were considered: Fe2O3 and CaO, both mixed in a PLA carrier material. The volumetric fill ratio of the two modifiers did not exceed 45%, as the mixing dependency of the material properties is linear in this range. The power fluxes and power efficiency were estimated. The results provide new possibilities for better control methodologies and advanced additive manufacturing for new materials in electronics. Operational control can accelerate the 3D printing process, speeding up the heating of 3D-printed composite materials and reducing the printing time and total energy consumption. Furthermore, this research provides directions for new advanced 3D printing extruder designs with better power and energy heating efficiency.