With the coming up of affordable axis
systems, easy-to-use software and the relatively well controllable “Fused
Deposition Modeling” process on the basis of plastics, 3D printing as a
generative or additive manufacturing process has been experiencing a boom.
Today, very low-cost and compact systems
already are available for being used to manufacture small plastic objects from
selected materials. However, for creating reliable objects with complex
structures and flawless surfaces, the use of professional printers is still
indispensable. It is also possible to combine and assemble near-series
materials, such as high-strength plastics, ceramics and metals to become
functional products.
Directly following precision and
strength, optics, haptics and surface quality play a decisive role. Often, the
right “look” is only achieved by subsequent painting or the final product is
only created by structurally glueing together a plurality of different printed
components.
In industry, for many years treating
surfaces with plasma has been a well-proven process for preparing even barely
wettable surfaces in an optimal way for subsequent painting and glueing.
For atmospheric surface treatment, relyon plasma has developed a novel active
principle and made it ready for series production. Herein, an airflow is
activated by a strong alternating electrical field to create an atmospheric
plasma beam. Unlike conventional device solutions, this application does not
require an external high voltage supply.
By inciting high frequent vibrations,
the alternating electrical field is produced in a piezoelectric ceramic at the
top of which finally the gas discharge is ignited. The advantages of this
method referred to as PDD® Technology (piezoelectric direct discharge) are
obvious. Power supply on a low-voltage level is very safe and the efficiency of
conversion of electric power into chemical excitation energy of the gas
molecules is very high. Thus, small atmospheric plasma sources having a high
power density can be compactly produced. Due to the high efficiency of the
excitation process, in practice a processing performance now is achieved that
had previously been possible only by using considerably larger installations.
PDD®
Plasma Technology is suitable for
integration into 3D printers of all kinds and categories of performance. A
voltage supply of 12V is all that is needed for the compact plasma module (type
piezo brush®) which typically has a power consumption of less than 15W. For
qualifying the advantages, we integrated this plasma module into a simple 3D
printer and conducted a first series of tests.
For typical cases of application on the
basis of conventional FDM Technology (Fused Deposition Modeling) it could be
demonstrated that:
- Glueing the printed objects is
considerably simplified
- Painting the objects in an homogeneous
way can be implemented more easily
- Water-based painting systems can be
applied
- An improved structural integrity between
the individual layers is achieved
In the future, relyon plasma will launch
a universal plasma module for use also with professional 3D printers. By means
of various nozzle attachments it will then also be possible to effect
structurings, fine borings, engravings and surface effects on different kinds
of materials.
Maximum Surface Quality in 3D Printing through Plasma Activation
