Composite Material Filaments

Filament
1

Hi guys,

The lab I work in has been diving into to some applications using composite materials in our 3D printers. Currently, we have the LULZBOT MINI and the TAZ 5 with the dual extruder headset. We are making composite materials using ABS and silicon carbide (SC) but the silicon carbide causes many clogs on the printers. We can get the ABS and SC to become a uniform but brittle filament at a diameter of 2.85 mm, but it causes trouble when trying to print with it. My question would is, have any of you printed using your own composite materials? What are some changes you had to incorporate to print efficiently?

2

Go with a very large nozzle with a stainless composition. Potentially a 1mm nozzle even. Consider adding something like an e3dv6 volcano nozzle to get better flow. If you are making the filament, consider adding a sifting process to remove larger particles. You might want to look at something with more extrusion force like a bondtech core extruder cold end.

If you are getting blockage due to lifting, consider an aluminum print bed and or an enclosure.