Investigation on the Temperature Control Accuracy of a Print Head for Extrusion 3D Printing and Its Improved Design

For the extrusion 3D printing process, the printing temperature has a significant impact on the filament formation process because the rheological properties of the printed materials are extremely thermal sensitive, which requires a high temperature control accuracy of the print head. This paper presents a numerical and experimental investigation on the temperature field of a homemade print head. A finite element simulation model for analyzing the temperature field of the print head was established, by which the temperature distribution inside the print head can be acquired. Moreover, to improve the temperature control accuracy, an improved configuration was proposed, and two schemes were compared. The temperature control error dropped from 28% to 6.2% with the improved print head, which was verified experimentally. Furthermore, printing trials were conducted by the optimized print head. The filament diameter could be regulated by changing the temperature of the print head, which validates the feasibility to control the filament diameter during the extrusion process via temperature regulation.