Purpose Recent work has demonstrated the possibility of selectively sintering polymer powders with radio frequency (RF) radiation as a means of rapid, volumetric additive manufacturing. Although RF radiation can be used as a volumetric energy source, non-uniform heating resulting from the sample geometry and electrode configuration can lead to adverse effects in RF-treated samples. This paper aims to address these heating uniformity issues by implementing a computational design strategy for doped polymer powder beds to improve the RF heating uniformity. Design/methodology/approach Two approaches for improving the RF heating uniformity are presented with the goal of developing an RF-assisted additive manufacturing process. Both techniques use COMSOL Multiphysics® to predict the temperature rise during simulated RF exposure for different geometries. The effectiveness of each approach is evaluated by calculating the uniformity index, which provides an objective metric for comparing the heating uniformity between simulations. The first method implements an iterative heuristic tuning strategy to functionally grade the electrical conductivity within the sample. The second method involves reorienting the electrodes during the heating stage such that the electric field is applied in two directions. Findings Both approaches are shown to improve the heating uniformity and predicted part geometry for several test cases when applied independently. However, the greatest improvement in heating uniformity is demonstrated by combining the approaches and using multiple electrode orientations while functionally grading the samples. Originality/value This work presents an innovative approach for overcoming RF heating uniformity issues to improve the resulting part geometry in an RF-assisted, volumetric additive manufacturing method.
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In situ investigation of the rheological and dielectric properties of a cross-linking carbon nanotube-thermosetting epoxy
Radio-frequency (RF) heating of thermosetting epoxies is an agile method to decouple the extrudability of epoxy resins from their buildability for additive manufacturing. Through this method, the resin is extruded in the liquid state at the early stages of curing. Then, an RF applicator induces a rapid and uniform increase in temperature of the resin, accelerating the solidification of the printed feature. Understanding the evolution of the resin's RF heating response as it cures is therefore critical in meeting the demands of additive manufacturing. In this work, we show that the high-frequency dielectric loss, determined using in situ rheo-dielectric measurements, of both neat and carbon nanotube (CNT) filled resins is correlated to the heating response at different temperatures throughout curing. Furthermore, we show that the presence of CNTs within the resin augments the heating response and that their dispersion quality is critical to achieving rapid heating rates during the cure.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2047365
- PAR ID:
- 10609718
- Publisher / Repository:
- Royal Society of Chemistry
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Soft Matter
- Volume:
- 19
- Issue:
- 32
- ISSN:
- 1744-683X
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 6168 to 6175
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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