AME - Design of a filament feeder
We have a novel additive manufacturing process that involves discontinuous feeding of fiber/filament into a laser-generated melt. Because the molten material retains significant viscosity, there is an axial force on the filament that can cause it to buckle. The filament ranges from optical fiber ~0.125 mm OD to glass tubing ~3 mm OD and the feeder needs to be reconfigurable to accommodate different filaments. Over the past decade, we have developed a working model for the feeder driven by a computer-controlled servo motor. This can be improved to provide greater filament support, force handling, and ease of loading. The objective of this project is to take the existing design, analyze it, identify opportunities for improvement, and manufacture a prototype.
We advance laser-based fabrication methods and apply advanced laser-based fabrication to a range of problems. The laboratory has several state-of-the-art systems which are being applied in innovative ways.