An X-Ray View of the Melting Processes

Additive Manufacturing An X-Ray View of the Melting Processes

2026-05-21 Source: IKT | Translated by AI 2 min Reading Time

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Taiwan Machine Tool & Accessory Builders' Association (TMBA)

SIMTOS (Seoul International Machine Tool Show)

Scientists at the Institute of Plastics Technology (IKT) at the University of Stuttgart have used X-rays to take a look inside the additive FFF manufacturing process to understand how plastics are melted and flow in pressure nozzles.

Sectional view of the molten, tungsten-loaded plastic in the melt channel (schematic, left). On the right, the actually calculated trajectories of the segmented particles at a feed rate of 1.5 mm/s.(Image: IKT Stuttgart) — Sectional view of the molten, tungsten-loaded plastic in the melt channel (schematic, left). On the right, the actually calculated trajectories of the segmented particles at a feed rate of 1.5 mm/s.
(Image: IKT Stuttgart)

In recent years, additive manufacturing has developed into one of the most innovative production technologies for manufacturing plastic products with complex geometries. In addition to product development and prototype production, it is also increasingly being used in series production.

The most widely used is the fused filament fabrication process (FFF), in which a plastic filament is deposited in layers on a build platform as a melt strand. The speed of this process is significantly limited by the melting rate of the filament. The economic series production of medium to large batch sizes using this process therefore places ever higher demands on its throughput. In order to increase this, detailed modeling and simulation analyses are essential. However, the small component dimensions of the hot end in which the filament is melted make it difficult to integrate sensory elements that could provide information about the details of this process.

Accurately Detect the Position of the Plastic Melt During Extrusion

Previous analysis methods therefore require optical access to the flowing medium. As part of the "XTrude" research project, scientists at the Institute of Plastics Technology (IKT) at the University of Stuttgart are now replacing conventional camera and laser systems with X-ray testing. With the institute's own µ-CT system from Comet Yxlon (type FF20 CT), which enables a resolution down to one micrometre, the X-ray-optimized aluminium nozzles can be X-rayed and the plastic melt in them can be recorded with positional accuracy using the tungsten particles during extrusion. This new approach will complement and validate modeling and simulations that have already been successfully carried out at the institute for some time.

Previous methods either relied on the examination of the cooled filament strand, which had previously been provided with color markers, or used transparent glass nozzles for flow analysis. However, these approaches only allow indirect conclusions to be drawn about the melt or are not transferable to metallic pressure nozzles due to the different material properties.

The enhanced understanding of the melting and flow processes via X-ray inspection should help to make the FFF process even more effective and economical.

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