Features and Functions of Filament Operated 3D Printer Nozzles: A Review

Abstract

Filament assisted additive manufacturing (FAAM) techniques are widely used in different application sectors for the fabrication of the three-dimensional part in the current manufacturing scenario. A very limited research study reported in the literature on the features and functions of filament operated various 3D printer nozzles. However, for proper understanding, there must be some combined study for different nozzles available for these FAAM techniques. Therefore, a detailed study on the filament operated nozzle available in the literature has been presented in this review work. It has been seen that three common types of the nozzle are widely applied: direct and Bowden type nozzles, single and multi-extruder type nozzles and single and multi-type nozzles. These nozzles have their own features and function areas. To improve the applicability of these FAAM techniques, more efforts should be paid on the design and analysis of a new single nozzle system that will be incorporating strength and eliminates the weakness of previously developed nozzles.