Sugar 3D Printing: Additive Manufacturing with Molten Sugar for Investigating Molten Material Fed Printing

Recent breakthroughs in additive manufacturing of molten glass using gravity-fed mechanisms have opened a new area of research in large-scale extrusion of molten material. However, the machines and techniques used for printing molten glass are expensive and complex due to high process temperature (&...

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Main Author: Leung, Pok Yin
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Architecture
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. 2018
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/115176
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1596-879X
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author Leung, Pok Yin
author2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Architecture
author_facet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Architecture
Leung, Pok Yin
author_sort Leung, Pok Yin
collection MIT
description Recent breakthroughs in additive manufacturing of molten glass using gravity-fed mechanisms have opened a new area of research in large-scale extrusion of molten material. However, the machines and techniques used for printing molten glass are expensive and complex due to high process temperature (>1000°C). A mixture of sucrose sugar and corn syrup is proposed as an analogous substitution material for research in molten material fed three-dimensional (3D) printing. Molten sugar is optically transparent and it exhibits similar temperature–viscosity relationship and solidification properties as molten glass, but at a much lower temperature (100–150°C). A low cost, desktop size 3D printer is designed with a temperature controlled sugar reservoir made from easily obtainable parts. The process of printing with molten sugar is demonstrated with success in recreating objects with similar complexity to glass prints. The techniques described in this study can be implemented easily for future investigation of glass and other molten material fed 3D printing. The design space of the printed object can be explored, for example, minimum radii, draft angle, and optical properties. Many process parameters can be tested with this system, for example, layer height, printing speed, nozzle design, multicolor material feed, and toolpath strategy.
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spelling mit-1721.1/1151762022-09-28T13:35:48Z Sugar 3D Printing: Additive Manufacturing with Molten Sugar for Investigating Molten Material Fed Printing Leung, Pok Yin Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Architecture Leung, Pok Yin Recent breakthroughs in additive manufacturing of molten glass using gravity-fed mechanisms have opened a new area of research in large-scale extrusion of molten material. However, the machines and techniques used for printing molten glass are expensive and complex due to high process temperature (>1000°C). A mixture of sucrose sugar and corn syrup is proposed as an analogous substitution material for research in molten material fed three-dimensional (3D) printing. Molten sugar is optically transparent and it exhibits similar temperature–viscosity relationship and solidification properties as molten glass, but at a much lower temperature (100–150°C). A low cost, desktop size 3D printer is designed with a temperature controlled sugar reservoir made from easily obtainable parts. The process of printing with molten sugar is demonstrated with success in recreating objects with similar complexity to glass prints. The techniques described in this study can be implemented easily for future investigation of glass and other molten material fed 3D printing. The design space of the printed object can be explored, for example, minimum radii, draft angle, and optical properties. Many process parameters can be tested with this system, for example, layer height, printing speed, nozzle design, multicolor material feed, and toolpath strategy. 2018-05-02T17:32:09Z 2018-05-02T17:32:09Z 2017-03 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2329-7662 2329-7670 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/115176 Leung, Pok Yin Victor. “Sugar 3D Printing: Additive Manufacturing with Molten Sugar for Investigating Molten Material Fed Printing.” 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing 4, 1 (March 2017): 13–18 © 2017 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1596-879X en_US https://doi.org/10.1089/3dp.2016.0045 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Mary Ann Liebert
spellingShingle Leung, Pok Yin
Sugar 3D Printing: Additive Manufacturing with Molten Sugar for Investigating Molten Material Fed Printing
title Sugar 3D Printing: Additive Manufacturing with Molten Sugar for Investigating Molten Material Fed Printing
title_full Sugar 3D Printing: Additive Manufacturing with Molten Sugar for Investigating Molten Material Fed Printing
title_fullStr Sugar 3D Printing: Additive Manufacturing with Molten Sugar for Investigating Molten Material Fed Printing
title_full_unstemmed Sugar 3D Printing: Additive Manufacturing with Molten Sugar for Investigating Molten Material Fed Printing
title_short Sugar 3D Printing: Additive Manufacturing with Molten Sugar for Investigating Molten Material Fed Printing
title_sort sugar 3d printing additive manufacturing with molten sugar for investigating molten material fed printing
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/115176
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1596-879X
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