Integration of soft tooling by additive manufacturing in polymer profile extrusion process chain

• Published in: Materials & design 2024-07, Vol.243, p.113065, Article 113065
• Main Authors: Aimon, A.H., Singh, S., Pedersen, D.B., Tosello, G., Calaon, M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Additive Manufacturing; Fused Filament Fabrication; Masked Stereolithography; Polymer extrusion; Soft tooling
• ISSN: 0264-1275
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matdes.2024.113065

[Display omitted] •The highlights from the findings in the research paper are the following:•Masked stereolithography (MSLA), fused filament fabrication (FFF) and conventional machining were utilized to manufacture the extrusion calibration slides. MSLA parts had an average negative deviation of −0.3 mm from the nominal dimension, which was closer to the deviation of the conventional manufactured part (that had deviations in the order of −0.1 mm from the nominal dimension).•CF-PEEK die manufactured by the FFF process withstood the combination of high temperature and pressure process conditions of polymer profile extrusion for 14 hours with a melt temperature of 195°-215 °C. A deviation of 0.06 mm in the outside diameter of the die before and after experimental testing indicated thermal expansion of the extrusion die because of the prolonged exposure to those conditions during processing.•CF-PEEK die manufactured by FFF had ripple features with peaks and deep valleys with an average and standard deviation Sa value of 16.6 ± 2.1 μm. Considering the direction of melt flow during extrusion, only the peaks of the ripples area interacted with the polymer melt flow. The resulting surface of the ripples had a Sa value of 4.3 ± 1.9 μm.•Extrudates produced from AM die and AM calibration slides tooling set achieve a surface roughness with an average and standard deviation Sa value of 1.80 ± 0.84 μm for PP and 1.90 ± 0.85 μm for ABS. These values are lower than those obtained from AM die and conventional calibration slides tooling set. Integrating additive manufacturing (AM) into polymer extrusion offers process chain flexibility and design freedom. It reduces the need for time-consuming iterations and trial-and-error in the die design process. Consequently, polymer AM of extrusion (i.e., soft tooling) allows for a shorter product development cycle and cost-effectiveness for small-scale production and highly customized products. In this study, carbon fibre (CF)-polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) dies were manufactured using the fused filament fabrication (FFF) AM process, employing a streamlined die design achieved through freeform transition planes. Calibration slides were produced using masked stereolithography (MSLA), FFF, and conventional manufacturing techniques (i.e., machining) to preserve the final product’s cross-section during the cooling process. The dimensional and surface characteristics of these calibration slides were evaluated to assess the dimensional accu