Date of Graduation
5-2016
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering
Degree Level
Undergraduate
Department
Mechanical Engineering
Advisor/Mentor
Zhou, Wenchao
Committee Member/Reader
Albers, David
Abstract
This paper presents a low-cost 3-D inkjet process design. Current commercially available 3-D inkjet printers (e.g., Objet Connex) that are capable of multi-material printing are expensive and out-of-reach of most consumers. While fused deposition modeling and other extrusion-based hybrid processes for multi-material printing are becoming available, these techniques are slow and relatively low-resolution. This research attempts to fill the gap by presenting a simple and low-cost solution to bring desktop 3-D inkjet to the community by utilizing components from an Epson inkjet printer. The mechanical system was designed with maximum utilization of the Epson carriage system with the addition of a third axis. A 3rd party ink supply system was used in replacement of the standard ink cartridges and an integrated UV LED curing system was developed. Finally, a simple software control system was implemented using Arduino. Costs were managed by exploiting the original driver electronics, power supply, and X-stage motor and feedback mechanism.
Citation
Schmitt, C. T. (2016). Low-Cost Inkjet Process for 3-D Printing. Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/meeguht/54