ROTATIONAL 3D PRINTING OF SENSOR DEVICES USING REACTIVE INK CHEMISTRIES

摘要

This paper charts progress in three key areas of a project supported by both UKrngovernment and UK industry to manufacture novel sensor devices using rotary 3D printingrntechnology and innovative ink chemistries; (1) the development of an STL file slicing algorithmrnthat returns constant Z height 2D contour data at a resolution that matches the given print headrnsetup, allowing digital images to be generated of the correct size without the need for scaling;rn(2) the development of image transformation algorithms which allow images to be printed atrnhigher resolutions using tilted print heads and; (3) the formulation of multi part reaction inksrnwhich combine and react on the substrate to form solid material layers with a finite thickness. ArnDirect Light Projection (DLP) technique demonstrated the robustness of the slice data byrnconstructing fine detailed three dimensional test pieces which were comparable to identical partsrnbuilt in an identical way from slice data obtained using commercial software. Material systemsrncurrently under investigation include plaster, stiff polyamides and epoxy polymers andrnconductive metallic’s. Early experimental results show conductivities of silver approachingrn1.42×10~5 Siemens/m.