Design of Affordable 3D PrintersBrandon Watson1, Guiming Chen1, Jinyun Zhou1, Lai Man Tang2,

Oyedotun Ayeni1 , Alexander Cusson1&2 , Andrew Godfrey1, James Hickey1,

Jordan Morrow1 , Sean Neal1 , Dulus Owen1 , and Jing Zhang1

1Purdue School of Engineering & Technology2Purdue School of Science

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Abstract

• Designed and built an affordable delta 3D printer that has the potential to print a variety of materials.

• Designed and built a dual extruder desktop 3D printer with the potential to print two different plastics.

Review of Literature

3D printers have gradually evolved from expensive tools available only to a few experts to low-cost machines accessible by everyone [1-3].

This is consistent effort to build printers to the general public, mainly because it represents the largest group of cheap and open-source printers available. The plastic filaments used consist of, e.g., poly lactic acid (PLA), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) [1].

Current Status of Research

We successfully built the delta 3D printer and it is working correctly. The dual extruder desktop 3D printer has also been assembled and is working correctly. For both projects, we were able to design and build low-cost 3D printers. In conclusion, this research has resulted in two affordable 3D printers with the potential to 3D print different materials.

Methods

1. Conducted literature review on additive manufacturing

2. Assembled the 3D printer by following the manual instructions

3. Isolated issues one by one for troubleshooting

4. Critical problem solving on hardware and firmware

5. Researching meaning of different printer settings

6. Testing different printer settings to obtain optimal print quality

Introduction

The recent expiration of Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) patents sparked a growth in the 3D printing industry. FDM takes a material, melts it, and then builds a part layer by layer from the molten material. As patents for 3D printing continue to expire, it will continue to see a large growth in popularity, but there are currently limitations on 3D printers. The goal of our project was to address two of the biggest current limitations: the cost of the 3D printer and the ability to print with different materials.

References1. Wohlers Associates, WohlersReport (2015)

2. Lipson, H. & Kurman, M. Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing. (2013).

3. Gross, B. C., Erkal, J. L., Lockwood, S. Y., Chen, C. & Spence, D. M. Evaluation of 3D printing and its potential impact on biotechnology and the chemical sciences. Anal. Chem. 86, 3240–53 (2014).