`International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET)

Volume 8, Issue 4, April 2017, pp. 442–447 Article ID: IJMET_08_04_047

Available online at http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/issues.asp?JType=IJMET&VType=8&IType=4
ISSN Print: 0976-6340 and ISSN Online: 0976-6359

© IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed

ECONOMICAL 3D – PRINTER BY ADOPTING

FDM TECHNIQUE
Dr. Rajashekar Patil
Professor and Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Atria Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Deepak D, Dharshan Gowda S, Krishna Kashyap C S, Mohammed Murtaza, and

Prashanth S N
UG Students, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Atria Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Harsha N, Bharath V G
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Atria Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

ABSTRACT
3D printing is an additive manufacturing technique, a modern-day technology used to
produce products having dimensions ranging from microns to several feet. 3D – printing
is efficiently utilized in various fields such as aerospace, automotive, medical, construction
and also in manufacturing of many household products. This paper emphasis on designing
of an economical 3D printer and focuses on new mechanism of X, Y and Z axis movement
of 3D printer.
Key words: 3D Printing, Mechanism, Control System, STL Format, FDM
Cite this Article: Dr. Rajashekar Patil, Deepak D, Dharshan Gowda S, Krishna Kashyap
C S, Mohammed Murtaza, Prashanth S N, Harsha N and Bharath V G, Economical 3d –
Printer by Adopting FDM Technique, International Journal of Mechanical Engineering
and Technology, 8(4), 2017, pp. 442-447.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/issues.asp?JType=IJMET&VType=8&IType=4

1. INTRODUCTION
3D printer is a machine allowing the creation of a physical object from a three-dimensional digital
model, typically by laying down many thin layers of a material in succession. Various
methods/techniques such as FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling), SLS (Selective Laser Sintering),
SLA (Stereo Lithography), DMLS (Direct Metal Laser Sintering), DLP (Digital Light Processing),

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 Dr. Rajashekar Patil, Deepak D, Dharshan Gowda S, Krishna Kashyap C S, Mohammed Murtaza,
Prashanth S N, Harsha N and Bharath V G

EBM (Electronic Beam Melting), LOM (Laminated Object Manufacturing) etc. are available to
produce desired prototypes or models. In order to build a 3D printer three main elements, have to
be considered, which are, (i) selecting one of the 3D printing methods, (ii) suitable Mechanism
and (iii) Control System. To make layer by layer material deposition in succession to obtain the
object, suitable mechanism should be selected. The factors to be considered while selecting a
mechanism are, 3D printing method adopted, print volume, precision, resolution, synchronization
of movements and ease of control. The main objective of this project work is to construct a sizable
3D printer (500*500*500 mm3) economically.

2. RAPID PROTOTYPING METHODS

Various methods are there to create prototype. These methods are used based on the complexity
of the design, the material used in the design, the purpose of the design, and the size of the design.
They are as follows:

2.1. Photopolymerization
Curing of photoreactive polymers/ resins with laser or UV light such as SLA, Material Jetting,
TPP, CLIP. In Stereolithography Apparatus (SLA) parts are produced from a photocurable liquid
resin that solidifies when exposed to a laser or UV light which moves around the surface of the
resin [1]. According to ASTM standard material jetting is a process in which droplets of build
material are selectively deposited onto a built bed to develop a 3D object [2]. A promising three-
dimensional microfabrication method that has recently attracted considerable attention is based on
two photon polymerization with ultrashort laser pulses. When focused into the volume of a
photosensitive material (or photoresist), the pulses initiate two-photon polymerization via two-
photon absorption and subsequent polymerization [3]. In Continuous Liquid Interface Production
(CLIP) is achieved with an oxygen-permeable window below the ultraviolet image projection
plane, which creates a “dead zone” (persistent liquid interface) where photopolymerization is
inhibited between the window and the polymerizing part [4].

2.2. Powder
High power laser to sinter small particles of material (Ex: SLS, Binder Jetting). Selective laser
sintering (SLS) It is a rapid prototyping process that builds media in powder form, which is fused
together by using powerful carbon-dioxide laser to form final product. Binder Jetting Where the
material being jetted is a binder, and is selectively sprayed into a powder bed of the part material
to fuse it a layer at a time to print the required part

2.3 Material Extrusion

Extruding a filament at appropriate temperature (Ex: FDM, DWA). Fused Deposition Modeling
(FDM) is a process by which a machine deposits a filament (Thermoplastics or wax). On top or
next to same material, In order to create a joint by heat or adhesion. The term “direct writing”
describes fabrication methods that employ a computer-controlled translation stage, which moves
a pattern-generating device, that is, an ink-deposition nozzle, to create materials with controlled
architecture and composition. [5]

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 Economical 3d – Printer by Adopting FDM Technique

2.4 Lamination
Layering sheet materials which are cut and laminated together (Ex: LOM, SDL). In LOM
technology, the layered material is rolled on the building platform. Usually the material is coated
with an adhesive layer and the feeding roller heats in order to melt the adhesive. The layer is then
glued to the previous one. A blade or a laser is used to draw the geometry of the object to build
and draw crosses on the rest of the surface to facilitate the extraction of the final objects. Selective
Deposition Lamination (SDL) process involves layers of adhesive coated paper (or plastic or metal
laminates) that are successively glued together with a heated roller and cut to shape with a laser
cutter layer by layer. A roller with the material moves each new sheet of material over the last and
repeats the process until the object is complete. [6]

2.5. Method selected for 3d Printer

The list of 3D printing technologies and processes continues to grow as 3D printing is always
changing. The 3D printing industry continues to innovate its hardware as well as the materials and
processes to create objects or parts. Depending on many factors such as budget, design or function,
choosing the appropriate 3D printing process as well as the right material is important.
The FDM technology is clean, simple to use and it is environmentally stable. Complex shapes
and intricate parts can be printed. FDM is at the very entry of the market as it mainly used by
individuals. It is probably the most popular printing method due to the number of printer available
on the market. FDM is an affordable 3D printing process compared to other 3D printing
technologies. Considering same kind of 3D printers (Omega [9], Aion500 [10]), the specifications
and parameters have remained the same, as shown in the Table 2.1, but the cost of these printers
range from 3,00,000 to 5,00,000 INR.

Table 2.1 Specification of 3D Printer

Build Volume (L x B x H) 530 mm x 530 mm x 500 mm

100 microns to 400 microns (set before printing in
Layer Resolution Height
software)
PLA, ABS, Flexible, HIPS, Nylon, Composites,
Compatible Material for printing
PVA
Positioning Precision XY – Axes 11 microns
Positioning Precision Z – Axis 10 microns
Printing Speed 30-150 mm per sec
Filament Diameter 1.75 mm
Nozzle Diameter 0.4 mm

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 Dr. Rajashekar Patil, Deepak D, Dharshan Gowda S, Krishna Kashyap C S, Mohammed Murtaza,
Prashanth S N, Harsha N and Bharath V G

3. MECHANISM
The 3 – Dimensional motion is achieved by synchronization of movements in X, Y and Z
directions. Figure 1 shows the three dimensional rendered view of the mechanism. The Extruder
nozzle is the main part of the printer where the thermoplastics which is in the form of filament
melts and deposits on the heat bed. This mechanism uses four stepper motors, one for X – axis
movement (Lateral movement or Left – Right movement), two for Y – axis movement (to and fro
movement) and one for Z – axis movement (Vertical movement). Using pulley and belt
arrangement four lead screws can be controlled by using single motor. The lead screws are driven
by the motor which in turn moves the bed in vertical direction. For the movement of carriages in
Y – axis direction, two separate motors are used. Similarly, movement in X – axis direction is
achieved by mounting a single motor on Y-axis carriage. The stepper motors used are having
resolution of 0.36o, i.e., 1000 steps per revolution which provides high precision, the mechanism
used for movement in Z – axis provides precision, ease of control and easy synchronization.

Figure 1 Mechanism of all movements

4. CONTROL SYSTEM
After selecting the process and constructing the mechanism accordingly, the next step is to decide
the various components required for the electronic configuration of the printer. We can use either
servo or stepper motors for movement of various axis, since stepper motors are less expensive than
the servo motors they are preferred over servo motors. The motors should be selected according
to the power required for movement of each axis. for control of these motors we have to select
appropriate stepper driver, that has a built-in converter; it can control bipolar stepping motor in
full, half, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 stepping modes. For the stepper driver to control the stepper motors, signals
and input power has to be provided
For economical purpose and easy programming, an open source microprocessor, Arduino
Mega can be been used. Many electrical and electronic components such as sensors, stepper
drivers, end stops etc., have to be accommodated in the microprocessor, which is difficult. To help
us accommodate everything on the motherboard, an open source circuit board called RepRap
Arduino mega pololu shield 1.4 can be used.

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 Economical 3d – Printer by Adopting FDM Technique

In order to interact with the control system user interface (UI) plays a major role. A compatible
user interface software can be used so that the microprocessor can intercept the user’s commands
Marlin firmware [8] is an open source Arduino programming, particularly used for rep-rap printers
can be used, this program has to be modified according to the specification of the printer. Once all
the control systems and software are configured the next step is to convert input CAD file into a
physical 3D model. The process starts with slicing the model which is in .STL file format and then
generating G codes to control the movement of the extruder nozzle in various axis. Open source
softwares are available to slice the model and generate G codes like Slicr, Cura, Craftware etc.

5. ECONOMIC STUDY OF THE PARTS

Market survey for various components required for economical construction of 3D printer Table
5.1 shows the different parts required to construct a 3D printer using above mentioned information.
It consists of the quantity of parts required with the minimum and maximum cost associated with
it. Hence from the economic study of the parts explained in this paper, it is evident that the cost
can be brought down between 25,000 to 85,000 INR.

Table 5.1 Different parts required to construct a 3D printer

6. CONCLUSION
Using a single motor for vertical movement makes bed leveling easy and the bed movement is
monitored with resolution in microns. The drawback in few of the 3D Printer which uses bed
movement in Y axis has distortion of printed layer at high rates of printing. To overcome this
drawback, new mechanism has been developed which uses bed movement in Z axis and large
volume of printing is obtained at higher rates without any distortion. The control of the mechanism
becomes easy because of less number of motors and good synchronization can be achieved using
this new 3D printer technique.

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 Dr. Rajashekar Patil, Deepak D, Dharshan Gowda S, Krishna Kashyap C S, Mohammed Murtaza,
Prashanth S N, Harsha N and Bharath V G

7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors thank Mr. Mohammed Jabir who helped us in fabrication of bed movement in Z -axis
direction.

REFERENCES
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of Manufacturing Engineers, 1992, Chapter 1: 11–18.
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[10] http://marlinfw.org/
[11] http://cncparts.in/product/omega-530x530x530-mm/
[12] http://www.divbyz.com/aion500

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