The Resolution-Throughput Conflict In Material Extrusion Additive Manufacturing

Area of Science:

• Additive Manufacturing
• Materials Science
• Mechanical Engineering

Background:

• Material extrusion additive manufacturing (MEAM) offers versatility from microscale to meter-scale applications.
• A key limitation in MEAM is the inherent tradeoff between geometric resolution and manufacturing throughput.
• Current progress relies on optimizing individual components, leading to incremental gains and system constraints.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a unified, system-level strategy for overcoming the resolution-throughput tradeoff in MEAM.
• To analyze existing and emerging deposition strategies within a structured framework.
• To identify pathways for independent adjustment of resolution and throughput in MEAM systems.

Main Methods:

• Organizing deposition strategies into three mechanistic domains: software and control, deposition hardware and architecture, and hybrid processes.
• Systematically examining current and novel approaches within this framework.
• Analyzing coupled interactions among materials physics, flow dynamics, and machine architecture.

Main Results:

• Existing approaches often exhibit limitations, unrealized complementarities, or fundamental incompatibilities.
• Improvements in resolution typically lead to disproportionate decreases in deposition rate and printable volume.
• A system-level perspective reveals shared challenges across different MEAM strategies.

Conclusions:

• Overcoming the resolution-throughput tradeoff requires a holistic approach integrating materials physics, flow dynamics, and machine architecture.
• Developing MEAM systems with independent control over resolution and throughput is achievable.
• This advancement will enable reliable manufacturing across diverse materials, scales, and applications.