3D Gradient Printing of Energetic Multi-Materials
B. Rijnders (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)
KG Langendoen – Mentor (TU Delft - Embedded Systems)
Michiel Straathof – Mentor (TNO)
M Zuñiga Zamalloa – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Embedded Systems)
Jan S. Rellermeyer – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Data-Intensive Systems)
More Info
expand_more
Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.
Abstract
The performance of gun and rocket propellants, which consist of energetic materials, is largely determined by their geometry and composition. Con- ventional production methods limit the performance by putting constraints on both. With additive manufacturing, or 3D-printing, there are signi- cantly fewer geometry constraints and together with the ability to combine multiple materials into a continuous gradient new performance optimization opportunities are created. In the current 3D-printing world it is possible to print single-material or discrete gradient multi-material objects by trans- lating a CAD model to printer instructions. This translation is done with slicer software that slices a 3D-model and outputs printer instructions in a G-Code le. This thesis looks at how an object with a continuous gradient can be printed. A modied version of the popular Cura slicing software is presented that can apply an approximation of a continuous gradient to an input model. The printer paths are simulated with the slicer software and ultimately printed using TNO's multi-material 3D-printer. While the print results show that energetic materials behave in such a dierent way than normal plastics that 3D-printing them it is not an easy task, printing a 3D-model with a multi-material continuous gradient is certainly viable.