Monitoring of a single-screw extruder on the digital manufacturing context

• Grant number: 21/00534-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): December 01, 2021
• Effective date (End): November 30, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Mechanical Engineering - Manufacturing Processes
• Principal Investigator: Sidney Bruce Shiki
• Grantee: Marcelo Batalha Hattori
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The quality of the filaments used in additive manufacturing is shown to be an extremely important feature for 3D printing since deficient filaments end up producing inappropriate products. Thus, it is increasingly necessary to implement improvements in the extruder in order to improve the quality of these filaments. There are several ways reported in the literature to improve this process. However, some of them are unfeasible due to the cost of accessories and the complexity of developing new devices. Therefore, as a way to optimize the production of filaments, the present study seeks a way to monitor the extrusion process with low-cost devices. The operation of these machines will be monitored using an ESP32 and temperature and vibration sensors. The data collected during the fabrication of filaments will be correlated with the properties of these products extracted through tensile tests and scanning electron microscopy. At the end of the project, it is expected to obtain a low-cost monitoring system for the polymeric extrusion using concepts of digitalization of manufacturing processes. (AU)