Development of an Extrusion-based Five-axis 3D Printing System for Manufacturing of Complex Parts

Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM) has gained significant attention in academia and industry over recent decades. Two inherent challenges faced by conventional three-axis printing are the staircase effect and the need for support structures for overhangs. The emerging multi-axis AM introduces a novel printing process with a variable build direction, offering potential solutions to mitigate these issues. In this study, we develop an extrusion-based five-axis Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) AM system, concentrating on the implementation of cutting-edge multi-axis printing strategies. We present a collection of algorithms, encompassing the 3+2-axis printing pipeline and the five-axis sculpture printing, to demonstrate the feasibility and versatility of our system. The findings reveal that our system can achieve support-free printing of intricate components with enhanced surface quality and curved layer sculpting with variable depth, while simultaneously reducing both printing time and material consumption.