Large scale 3D printing: Feasibility of novel extrusion based process and requisite materials

The predominance of conventional polymer processes (CPP) is undoubtedly formidable regarding monetary benefits gained in lieu of mass production in the global market. In this research, profitable commercial status of CPP is critically questioned in case of a specific large-scale application in low quantities, considering the following three factors: cost, time, and complexity. This research paper reports the subjective analysis-based exclusion of conventional processes (injection moulding) that brings the ball in the court of additive manufacturing (AM) technologies which are superior to injection moulding in low volume production. However, the AM techniques are limited to print only small-scale products in low quantity. This paper proposes a novel application of large scale products in low quantities by extruding polymer pellets from conceptual extrusion based deposition modeling setup. The requirement of a suitable material for conceptual extrusion setup entails the analysis of various factors to verify the feasibility of current fused deposition modeling materials for the conceptual large extrusion based deposition modeling setup. Therefore, this research contributes through providing a feasibility report for the CPP, AM techniques and their materials to print large-scale products.