Research Papers
Much of the progress made in applications for this technology is developed by our dedicated users, or in partnership with them. These users are experts in their fields and have a wealth of knowledge and experience. They work closely with us to develop innovative applications for our technology. The following Papers and reference materials come from a variety of sources, including our partners, academic institutions, and industry experts. We are constantly working to expand our knowledge base and to develop new and innovative applications for our technology.
Our users are a key part of our success. They provide all of us with valuable insights and feedback, and they help the open community develop and test new applications for this technology. We are grateful for their partnership and collaboration.
We are also grateful to the academic institutions and industry experts who have contributed to our knowledge base. Their research and expertise have been invaluable to us. We also ask that you reach out if there is expertise you think we can help you with. Sometimes we can assist directly, and other times we can put you in contact with others doing similar research.
When possible we ask that this information be made available to the general user community. The Virtual Foundry will curate and share this growing list of scholarly articles, use-cases and general research whenever possible. The Virtual Foundry is a place where people can share and learn from each other. We ask that you share your work with us whenever possible. We will curate and share this growing list of scholarly articles, use-cases, and general research with the community. This will help us all learn and grow together.
Sharing information is one of the most important things we can do. It helps us to understand the world around us and to make informed decisions. It also helps us to connect with others and to build a more just and equitable society.
We are committed to continuing to develop new and innovative applications for FFF/FDM 3D Metal Printing technology. We believe that this platform will change the world. We are excited to see what the future holds.
We hope that you will join us in sharing your work with the greater TVF community, and the world in general.
Together we’ll take #FFFmetal to the next level.
Material Selection Process for a Low-Power Magnetically Shielded Hall Thruster
"Hall thrusters are a type of electric propulsion device that ionizes and accelerates a plasma to provide low thrustat high efficiencies. ORB-1-D1 is a low-power magnetically-shielded Hall thruster (≤ 1. 35 kW) developed by theOUROBOROS project in the University of...
Development and dosimetric evaluation of a modulated intraoperative radiotherapy (mIORT) system using the Zeiss intrabeam device
"Objective. Intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) is a specialised radiotherapy technique that delivers a precise, single high-dose fraction to the tumour bed after surgical removal of the tumour, aiming to eliminate residual cancer cells. This study investigates the...
Sintering Mechanisms in Metal Extrusion-based Sintering-assisted Additive Manufacturing: State-of-the-Art and Perspectives
"Extrusion-based sintering-assisted additive manufacturing (ES-AM) has enabled the fabrication of intricate metal structures, spanning from simple geometries to complex lattice structures. The sintering process plays a vital role in metal densification that requires...
Development of AF9628 Filament for Bound Metal Deposition Additive Manufacturing
"The Innovative Munitions Team’s task was to develop a cost-effective additive manufacturing (AM) method for ordnance metals. Additional project goals included green part testing, exploring print complexity capabilities, and developing a filament utilizing AF9628. The...
Investigating the Influence of Infill Density and Postprocessing Parameters on 3D Printed PLA Copper Composite
"Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is a common 3D printing technique currently in use. FDM can now produce metal products using a cost-effective technology developed by the Virtual Foundry filament. Analyze various parameters, and this study investigated the effects of...
A Review of Fused Filament Fabrication of Metal Parts (Metal FFF): Current Developments and Future Challenges
"Fused filament fabrication (FFF) is the most widespread and versatile material extrusion (MEX) technique. Although powder-based systems have dominated the metal 3D printing landscape in the past, FFF’s popularity for producing metal parts (“metal FFF”) is growing....
Geometric and hardness characterization of additively manufactured copper using bound powder extrusion with thermal sintering
"Recent advancements now allow for high thermal conductivity metals such as copper to be additively manufactured and will allow for the applications of the technology to be broadened in the field of heat transfer. In this study, copper samples were additively...
Thermal-fluid modeling and simulation of Ti-6Al-4V alloy filaments during shaping in the hot-end of material extrusion additive manufacturing
"Continuous progress in material extrusion additive manufacturing is motivated by the need to produce functional parts at a low cost for medical, aerospace, and automotive applications. A significant innovation is impregnating a polymeric melt with metal powder...
3d printing of a continuous carbon fiber reinforced bronze-matrix composite using material extrusion
"The main objective of this study is to investigate, for the first time, the feasibility of 3d printing a continuous carbon fiber (CCF) reinforced metal matrix composite using a cost-effective material extrusion (MEX) technology. Notably, this paper presents a...
Enhanced Phase Change Heat Transfer with Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) Printed Pit and Pillar (Pi2) Arrays
"Phase change heat transfer, crucial in thermal management systems, can be significantly enhanced through optimized surface structures. This study investigates pool boiling heat transfer enhancement using 3D printed structures with carefully designed pillar and pit...
Establishment of Select Printing Parameters for Low-Cost Fused Deposition Modeling Printed Cast Iron Through Experimental Optimization
"The fused deposition modeling (FDM) form of additive manufacturing provides a low-cost opportunity to quickly create unique parts with complex geometries using a high degree of precision. This is accomplished through a layer-by-layer extrusion of a metallic infused...
Experimental investigation of FDM manufacturing of 316 l stainless steel
"Continuous research in the field of metal additive manufacturing has led to the need for constant improvement of manufacturing parameters especially in the case of FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) manufacturing. In recent years, the main directions outlined for...
A simple approach for additive manufacturing of inconel 718 with high densification level by fused filament fabrication
"In this study, a simple and low-cost approach to additively manufacture (3D print) Inconel 718 by using a desktop fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printer via a 3-step printing-debinding-sintering stage is presented. Inconel 718 filament containing high metal...
Fracture Analysis of 316L Specimens Fabricated via Material Extrusion Additive Manufacturing: Influence of Building Orientation and Notch Acuity
"Continuous research in the field of metal additive manufacturing has led to the need for constant improvement of manufacturing parameters especially in the case of FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) manufacturing. In recent years, the main directions outlined for...
Shrinkage and deformation compensation in metal fused filament fabrication (mf3) sintered copper components using 3d scanning and inverse deformation
"Metal Fused Filament Fabrication (MF3) is an emerging additive manufacturing technology gaining popularity as a non-toxic and cost-effective alternative to other metal additive manufacturing methods. While offering applications in medical prosthetics, implants,...
The role of crystallization and annealing on the thermal conductivity of material extrusion additively manufactured parts
"Despite the significant research being conducted on the mechanical reliability of additively manufactured parts, comparatively little focus has been paid to the property of thermal conductivity. Additively manufactured thermally conductive parts have the potential to...
Optimization of extrusion-based additive manufacturing of bronze metal parts using a CuSn10/Polylactic acid composite
"As additive manufacturing gains widespread adoption across various industries, its application to traditional materials such as bronze remains relatively underexplored. Through a comprehensive assessment, this research investigates the extrusion-based additive...
Optimizing metal part distortion in the material extrusion-thermal debinding-sintering process: An experimental and numerical study
"The thermal debinding-sintering process plays an essential role in the context of material extrusion-based additive manufacturing (AM) for producing parts using metal injection molding (MIM). During thermal debinding, metal parts often experience material distortion...