“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, automotive, aerospace, and sensors; challenges remain in achieving geometric accuracy after debinding and sintering processes. This research focuses on addressing these challenges by utilizing digital scanning on the sintered part, comparing it to the original model, and compensating to achieve a deviation of below 6 %. A novel approach to distortion compensation was introduced to address the shrinkage and deformation after sintering through iterative pre-distortion, which successfully achieves a dimensional accuracy of the sintered part showcasing precision and accuracy. Achieving a relative density of 88 ± 2 % in the sintered copper part was accomplished without the need for any high-cost post-processing techniques by implementing sacrificial sintering carbon. This result was further corroborated by porosity analysis, revealing a 12–14 % porosity range. The XRD analysis showed the presence of oxidation on the top sintered surface, however after analyzing the polished top surface, peaks of only crystalline copper were found indicating no oxidation or impurities inside the sample. This study provides valuable insights into cost-effective fabrication and postprocessing of 3D printed copper parts offering enhanced accuracy in FFF metal additive manufacturing methodologies.”
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1526612524004316
Paper published to Science Direct 15 July 2024.