When 3D printing with materials such as ABS or polycarbonate, there are often problems with layer bonding. The YouTube channel CNC Kitchen has now investigated whether adhesion between layers can be improved by using a heated pressure chamber.
In an experiment, samples of ABS and PC blend were printed under different conditions: open chamber, passively heated by the heating bed, and actively tempered. The tensile strength of the samples was then tested.
It was found that even a partially closed chamber improved the bonding of the layers. With active heating to 65°C, the layer strength was increased by 50 percent for ABS and by as much as 77 percent for PC blend compared to open-chamber printing.
According to CNC Kitchen, the reason is that at higher temperatures, the layers remain heated longer. This allows the new material to better melt the previous one and create a strong bond.
According to the YouTuber, actively tempered pressure chambers make sense especially for technical materials with high softening points. With PLA, he says, they tend to be counterproductive.
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