High gravity material extrusion system and extruded polylactic acid performance enhancement

Additive manufacturing (AM) has gained significant attention in recent years owing to its ability to quickly and easily fabricate complex shapes and geometries that are difficult or impossible to achieve with traditional manufacturing methods. This study presents the development of a high-gravity material extrusion (HG-MEX) system, which generates a high-gravity field through centrifugal acceleration. In this process, the material is dissolved by heating the nozzle and subsequently deposited on the construction platform. The primary objective of this research is to evaluate the positive effects of gravity on material extrusion (MEX), which is a key aspect of AM. To accomplish this, a combined machine comprising a MEX unit and centrifuge is constructed. This HG-MEX system is used to analyze and reflect the influence of gravity on the material extrusion. The experimental evaluations demonstrate that the application of high gravity is a promising approach to improve the shape accuracy and performance of the parts fabricated through MEX. Notably, our results confirm the feasibility of utilizing MEX under high gravity to enhance performance in AM processes.