The Product Development Technology Station (PDTS) developed a 3D printing process that prints from conventional injection mould pellets, rather than expensive 3D printer filament. Therefore a much wider selection of cost effective plastics are available to use in 3D printing. By shredding recycled plastic, pellets can also be produced. It is also roughly ten times cheaper than conventional 3D printing methods.
The PDTS pushed boundaries by building a large 3D printer, 1.5 m x 1.5 m 1.5 m print volume, with which larger volumes can be 3D printed as existing printers usually are quite small and expensive.
By developing this printing process to operate on recycled material, it also is a sustainable green solution to manufacturing needed devices, spare parts and prototypes. This system can operate locally on recycled plastic from the surrounding areas to improve the accessibility and availability of much needed replacement parts, prototypes and functional goods.
It is a combination of the station’s strong mechanical and electronic capabilities working in collaboration to produce this unique process. The PDTS’s advanced manufacturing effectively produce the complex mechanical parts needed to consistently extrude pellets. The electronic requirements and firmware needed are also attended to by the station to control the new 3D printer.