Analysis of Heat Distribution and Velocity of Shielding Gas Flow in Chamber for Aluminium 3D Printing
摘要
Material extrusion additive manufacturing of metal is a promising technology with several advantages, including safety, cost-effectiveness, and low operating temperatures. However, when 3D printing with aluminum, oxidation and delamination issues frequently occur. The research proposes a solution using an inert gas heating chamber to solve the above problem. The heating chamber uses inert gas, with convection circulating in the chamber to push high-temperature gas flow into the printing area. The simulation model was designed using Comsol Multiphysics software time-dependent on analyzing heat distribution and optimizing the airflow in the chamber to minimize loss while still ensuring the temperature in the machining area. The analysis results show that the heat distribution at the printing area is not significantly different by about 30 ℃ and the inert gas loss of the process is 0.0108 m3/min. This loss is lower than that of gas shielding, which is currently being applied to other welding methods. Besides, predicting the results in terms of temperature and speed helps to select equipment for better manufacturing.