Continuously Variable Durometer 3D Printer

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to develop a 3D printer that can print multiple durometers, or hardness, within one printed part. This project was created by Raytheon so they could develop anti-vibration housings for their electronic components that experience vibrations during flight. Team 16077 was successful in developing a printer. To achieve the result, the hardware and software of a commercial 3D printer were modified. The entire existing extrusion system was replaced with a dual extruder system with a tubing design to be able to extrude multiple filaments (a soft and a hard filament) at once. The nozzle was replaced with a mixing nozzle so that the two filaments can create a range of durometers. The firmware of the printer had to be rewritten to accept G-Code commands to run both the extruders at once at varying ratios. A standalone graphical user interface (GUI) was developed to give the user an easy way of modifying their existing G-Code file to include the mixing ratios and commands. The results show that the printer can achieve a range of durometer from 84A to 75D Shore hardness. Furthermore, the printer was successful in printing a multi-durometer part that mitigated vibrations.