If you’d like stronger 3D-printed components, the continual fiber FibreSeeker 3, now on Kickstarter, guarantees to ship that. However does that steady fiber know-how truly matter and can it offer you stronger components?
You already find out about carbon fiber and glass-filled 3D printing filament, that are supposed to supply sturdy components. However to facilitate extrusion, these supplies are crammed with tiny little items of chopped fiber. That could be very completely different than conventional fiber-filled materials, like fiberglass and carbon fiber panels, which have fiber mats. There’s an excessive amount of debate about whether or not or not these fiber filament supplies present a real-world profit and so they actually don’t match their conventional counterpoints.
The FibreSeeker 3 is meant to bridge that hole, bringing true fiber reinforcement to 3D printing. It does that by utilizing a second print head to put down a single, lengthy strand of carbon fiber by means of the complete half. It’s really novel.
I’ve little doubt that FibreSeeker 3 components will likely be stronger than these printed on standard printers. However how a lot stronger and in what eventualities?
First, we have to needless to say that is solely an enchancment in tensile power. It received’t do something for, say, compression power. That’s why the entire demonstrations and statistics on the Kickstarter marketing campaign web page focus solely on tensile power.
That’s nonetheless very helpful, however I’ve one massive concern: the continual fiber follows the thermoplastic extrusion and subsequently aligns with the print’s layer strains. Presumably, the fiber will solely prolong between layers on the layer change factors (and probably in Z hop places).
3D-printed components are already weakest perpendicular to the layer strains and, if I’m right, this steady fiber know-how isn’t doing a lot to offer reinforcement in that route. It offers further power within the route that 3D-printed components are already sturdy, however doesn’t assist the place these components are weak.
Which may not matter to backers and clearly it hasn’t stopped the FibreSeeker 3 from succeeding on Kickstarter, because the marketing campaign has raised greater than $2M. However till I can see the know-how for myself, I’ll stay considerably skeptical.
