Abstract Scope |
Direct manufacturing of multifunctional, high-performance components is an aspirational goal for additive manufacturing technologies. Prior research has shown that hybrid DIW/FFF systems, where the DIW tool selectively deposits conductive traces within layers of FFF-printed parts, can fabricate multifunctional parts. However, these prior efforts are limited to DIW/FFF systems operating at ambient conditions, due to concerns over premature curing of conductive inks, and thus has been limited to printing with commodity polymers. To enable fabricating multifunctional high-performance polymers, a hybrid DIW/FFF system with an actively cooled DIW head was created that enabled FFF printing in chamber temperatures of up to 110°C. Nylon parts with embedded conductive silver traces were fabricated using this novel process. Because switching print modalities interrupts the FFF print, which weakens the interlayer bond at the pause interface, the effects of the duration of pause on interlayer bond strength in the part were also studied through mechanical testing. |