CX-036247: Polymer Additive Manufacturing at the AMC

This activity details the general operation of polymer additive manufacturing (AM) equipment (aka, 3D printers) at the AMC (935-W, Labs 136, 137, 138, 141, and 143). Printers may be either custom built, modified, or commercially available off the shelf (COTS). Materials for this activity include both polymers and polymer composites. The processes involved fall into one (or more) of the following ISO 52900 categories of AM technologies: 1. Material Extrusion - AM process in which material is selectively dispensed through a nozzle or orifice. This may be in the melt state or else a paste or slurry of solids dissolved/suspended in a solvent. 2. Material Jetting - AM process in which droplets of feedstock material are selectively deposited. The droplets are subsequently joined and fixed in place through either curing with UV light or through evaporation of solvent. 3. Powder Bed Fusion - AM process in which thermal energy selectively fuses regions of a bed of powdered feedstock.4. Vat Photopolymerization - AM process in which liquid photopolymer in a vat is selectively cured by light-activated polymerization.