I-Corps: Resin mini-extruder for additive manufacturing

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project involves providing significantly lower operating costs, broader material variety, and faster speeds than currently available with the fused-deposition modeling (FDM) additive manufacturing process. As additive manufacturing transitions from a prototyping tool to manufacturing solution, the demand for fast, inexpensive, and dynamic 3D printing solutions will continue to grow. The Resin Mini-Extruder is capable of integrating with existing 3D printer electro-mechanical systems and processing raw plastic pellets (resin) directly into a final part, unlike existing FDM technologies that require a filament feedstock. Raw pelletized plastics are typically a tenth to hundredth the cost of comparable filaments, which allow for significantly lower costs per print. In addition, the proposed solution is capable of printing a wide variety of plastics that are very difficult to print with existing extruders, including thermoplastic elastomers and polymer composites. The Resin Mini-Extruder is capable of significantly faster production than existing FDM technologies, which will enable high turnover of design prototypes and production parts.This I-Corps project is based on prior NSF-funded research involving a design framework for biomimetic elasto-fluidic systems. The research inspired the invention of a novel technology for manufacturing elasto-fluidic actuators, which forms the basis of this I-Corps project. The technology, the Resin Mini-Extruder for additive manufacturing, is a screw-driven extrusion system, which includes a novel screw-drive extruder and dynamic control system. The intent is to implement the extruder with existing 3D printer electro-mechanical systems in a FDM additive manufacturing process. The invention of the Resin Mini-Extruder was motivated by the need to print materials that existing FDM technologies are incapable of processing, namely thermoplastic elastomers. A goal of this I-Corps project is to determine whether customers demand broader material variety from FDM and if so, which materials and composites are preferred. The I-Corps process will also be used to determine the extent at which the other technology advantages are valued among customers, including cost per print and print speed, in particular applications.