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Volume: 58 | Article ID: jist4888
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Exploring Surface Defects on EP-based 3D-Printed Structures
  DOI :  10.2352/J.ImagingSci.Technol.2014.58.2.020506  Published OnlineMarch 2014
Abstract
Abstract

Electrophotography (EP) has been used for decades to print quickly, cheaply, and reliably in offices and homes around the world. It has been shown that the use of EP to print three-dimensional (3D) structures is feasible. In fact, multiple-layered prints are already commercially available in the form of color prints, but that is a limited number of layers. If the number of layers could be increased to produce functional 3D-printed structures, the desirable attributes of EP include: speed, reliability, selective coloring, ability to print a thermoplastic, multi-material printing, and the ability to print materials directly without the need for a transport medium, such as liquid ink formulations. Preliminary tests have confirmed the feasibility of using EP as an additive manufacturing (AM) technology. However, similar issues were encountered to those previously reported in the literature, namely the non-uniform brittle 3D structures that resulted as the number of layers increased. In order to determine the factors that affect the formation of these defects, an experiment was developed to identify these factors. Four independent factors were selected based on preliminary observations: the base substrate, the number of materials (i.e., colors), percentage fill (i.e., halftoning), and the use of graded transitions. A full factorial experiment was designed which resulted in 24 experimental conditions. The samples that were generated were measured at different layer intervals, 10, 20, and 30 for surface roughness, sample weight, height, curl, and surface quality as indicators of the progress. The results indicate that the base substrate plays an important role for how the sample curls but not for the smoothness of the surface; it also confirms that the more material is placed on the sample, the rougher the sample surface becomes. An interesting observation is that the leading edge of the sample into the fuser rollers was always rougher than the trailing edge.

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  Cite this article 

Alvaro J. Rojas Arciniegas, Marcos Esterman, "Exploring Surface Defects on EP-based 3D-Printed Structuresin Journal of Imaging Science and Technology,  2014,  pp 020506-1 - 020506-12,  https://doi.org/10.2352/J.ImagingSci.Technol.2014.58.2.020506

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Copyright © Society for Imaging Science and Technology 2014
  Article timeline 
  • received August 2013
  • accepted August 2014
  • PublishedMarch 2014

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