Video: 3D Printer: Working Principle, Function of Components and Solutions to Overheating Problem
Figure 1: 3D printer.
3D printing technology emerged in the mid-1990s. Its basic working principle is similar to regular printing. The printer contains powdered materials such as metal or plastic, which can be bonded together. When connected to a computer, the printer, under computer control, layers the "printing material" one on top of the other. Ultimately, it transforms the blueprint from the computer into a tangible object.
1. How Does a 3D Printer Work? What are the Functions of Its Parts?
3D printers are mainly used to print solid three-dimensional objects. The control software translates your 3D
drawings into computer instructions, which are GcODE files, and then transfers them to the 3D printer through a USB
data cable or SD card.
Printing materials (such as PLA, ABS, etc.) are fed through a material tube to an intelligently controlled nozzle.
They are heated, melted, and then extruded as filaments. Finally, through layer-by-layer stacking and
solidification, the material is shaped. The formed model has high strength and stability, allowing it to be used for
operations such as tapping, drilling, painting, and more, making it quickly ready for use.
Figure 2: Structure of a 3D printer.
1.1 Components and Their Functions
Cooling Fan for Filament: This fan is used to cool the model
during printing, and its speed can be adjusted.
Print Bed (Heated Bed): The model will be formed on the heated bed to prevent deformation during
the printing process.
Filament Clamping Nut: This is an accessory on the extruder. It is mainly used to clamp the
filament onto the drive gear, preventing filament slippage.
Drive Gear: The transmission gear is used to feed the filament into the nozzle heater to facilitate
the extrusion of filaments.
Extruder: Used to feed filaments into the nozzle and extrude the filaments, and then build the
model on the print bed.
Extruder Fan: Used to dissipate heat from the extruder motor and extruder assembly, preventing
overheating and material blockages.
PTFE Filament Tube: A type of plastic tube used to properly guide filament from the filament tray
into the extruder.
Gcode File: A computer language used to describe the toolpath of your 3D model formation. The
printer will convert your model into a GcODE file and then transfer it to the machine.
Heat Sink: Cools high-temperature components, resembling fins. Please do not touch it when it is
hot.
LCD Operation Panel: used to display the operating status of the machine and perform offline
printing and other operations, located on the upper part of the machine.
PLA Type Filament: PLA, whose scientific name is polylactic acid, is a type of renewable
bioplastic. It is the raw material for model printing and forming.
Control Software: Used to program your 3D model before converting it to GcODE, and can also be used
to transfer the converted GOCDE file to the 3D printer.
Stepper Motor Assembly: It consists
of a stepper motor and a drive block cooling fan, etc., and is used to push the filament into the extruder.
Motor Cable: Powers the motor based on electrical wiring.
Nozzle: Generally, the diameter is 0.4MM, located at the bottom of the extruder. It is used to
extrude filaments and build your model on the heated bed.
Power Supply: AC power supply to power your 3D printer.
CURA15.02: It is a free and open source 3D model slicing software that allows you to control and
write STL files and Gcode files, and transfer the data to the 3D printer.
SD Card: Data card, which can store and read digital data, used to save converted GcODE.
Gasket: The plastic piece that keeps the extruder fan and heat sink secure.
Filament material rack: used to place filaments to ensure that they enter the extruder safely.
STL File: A widely used file format for 3D models.
USB Cable: Connects the computer to the 3D printer via a USB interface for communication.
Figure 3: 3D printing head.
1.2 Application of Cooling Fans in 3D Printers
During the printing process, whether the extruded printing material cools and solidifies or the equipment generates
heat during operation, these all require a heat dissipation system to achieve the required cooling effect for
material molding and equipment. Currently, the most commonly used cooling system for 3D printers is cooling fans.
The 3D printer heats the material through the nozzle and extrudes the melt material. In order to prevent the nozzle
temperature from being too high and causing other components to melt and burn, a cooling fan needs to be installed
to control the temperature of the nozzle within a certain range.
This can also prevent the heat from being transferred to other places, softening the filament that has not yet
reached the nozzle, and causing material blockage and other phenomena.
It is not difficult to find that when the 3D printer starts to warm up, the cooling fan of the nozzle does not spin.
The fan starts to spin after a certain period of time, and the speed is different at each stage of printing.
Because for filaments, failure to cool in time will cause the shape to be easily changed, cooling the printed layers
quickly is a good way to maintain accurate accuracy. After printing is completed, the cooling fan speed will be very
high to quickly cool the nozzle.
Figure 4: A 3d printer using PLA type filament.
3D printers have higher performance requirements for cooling fans:
1. The heat dissipation effect is required to be good. Compared with similar products, the air volume is required to
be larger;
2. The service life should be long in the use environment of about 60℃;
3. With the PWM speed regulation function, you can control the speed of the cooling fan by adjusting the duty cycle
and changing the pulse width, reducing noise and power consumption.
2. How to Deal with 3D Printer Overheating during Printing?
The temperature of the plastic inside the extruder is between 190 and 240 degrees Celsius. When plastic is hot, it
is soft and easily molded into various shapes, but when it cools, it quickly becomes hard and retains its shape. You
need to find the right balance between heating and cooling to ensure that the plastic can be extruded freely from
the nozzle while solidifying quickly to maintain the exact dimensions.
If this balance is not mastered well, you will find some print quality issues such as inaccurate print sizes. The
following sections will look at some common causes of overheating and discuss how to prevent it.
2.1 Insufficient Heat Dissipation
In most cases, the reason for overheating is due to the plastic not being cooled down at a fast enough rate. This
will cause the hot plastic to freely change shape during the slow cooling process. Many plastics are much better at
shaping when they cool quickly after being extruded.
If your printer comes with a cooling fan, try increasing the fan power to cool the plastic faster. In Cura, click
the menu "Advanced Options -> Open Expert Settings" to open the Expert Settings window, and set the fan speed you
want in "Maximum Fan Speed".
The extra heat dissipation will help the plastic maintain its shape. If your printer doesn't have a cooling fan,
consider installing one yourself, or use a handheld fan to speed up cooling.
Figure 5: 3D printer.
2.2 Too High Temperature Setting When Printing
If you have used a cooling fan and the problem persists, you may need to try printing at a lower temperature. The
plastic will harden faster and retain its shape if it is extruded at a lower temperature.
Try lowering the printing temperature by 5-10 degrees to see if that helps. Change the printing temperature through
the "Print Temperature" item on the "Basic" page. Be careful not to adjust the temperature too low, otherwise the
filament may not be able to be extruded.
2.3 Printing too Fast
If each layer is printed very quickly, then there is no guarantee that the previous layer will have proper cooling
time when printing the new on top of the previous. This is especially important when printing small models and each
layer only takes a few seconds to print. Even with a cooling fan, when printing a small layer,you should still
reduce the printing speed to allow enough time for the layer to solidify.
Fortunately, Cura includes very simple options to support this situation very well. The Minimum Time Per Layer
option on the Advanced page is used to automatically reduce the print speed when printing small area layers to
ensure that these layers have enough cooling time to solidify before the next layer can be printed on top of them.
For example, if the "Minimum time per layer" is set to 15 seconds, Cura will automatically reduce the printing speed
when printing a layer takes less than 15 seconds. This is a crucial feature to combat overheating issues.
Figure 6: A 3D printer used to make toy models.
2.3 Try to Print Multiple Models at Once
After trying the above three methods, if you still have difficulty obtaining sufficient cooling effect, you can also
try printing multiple models at once. Make a copy of what you want to print, or import one more thing that needs to
be printed, and print it simultaneously.
By printing two things at the same time, you also provide more cooling time for each model. When the hot nozzle
moves to another location on the platform to print a second object, it leaves an opportunity for the first object to
cool down. This is also a simple but effective strategy for correcting overheating problems.
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