Effect of Filament Material and Printing Temperature on 3D Printing Extrusion Force

In this study, a modified 3D printer hotend equipped with a load cell, attached to the feeding system, was used to evaluate the effects of filament material composition and printing parameters on the extrusion force required. Four different materials (commercial PLA, pure PLA, wood-PLA with different ratios of wood particles, and wood-PLA with different ratios of thermally modified wood particles) were used for 3D printing, and the feeding resistance was measured. The filament feeder was connected to the extruder hotend via a load cell, which measured the forces required to push the filament through the extruder and the nozzle. Three printing nozzle temperatures of 200, 210, and 220 °C were used. The results show that the printing temperature and the material influence the required extrusion forces, which varied between 1 and 8 N, but the variation was high. With proper optimization and integration into the printer firmware, this setup could also be used to detect nozzle clogging during printing, modify printing parameters during the process, and prevent the uneven extrusion of composite filaments.