Research on the flexible support platform for fused deposition modeling

Traditional fused deposition modeling (FDM) additive manufacturing technologies usually fabricate a 3D physical model layer by layer. However, support structure under cantilever geometry and model unloading are two major drawbacks of the FDM technology that waste material and hamper the automation of FDM. This paper designs a kind of flexible support platform for assisting FDM to avoid waste and promote automation of FDM, which consists of basic units controlled to rise and fall by the computer. During the printing process, the platform can form different support structures using basic units for different models. When the printing process is finished, basic units rise to unload the model from the platform. Typical models were printed to verify efficiency of support structure reduction, and effects of the model’s position on reduction were studied. The automatic unloading of the flexible platform was simulated to study the stress state and then the mechanical test was put into effect to measure the actual value of pressure. In the last part, parameters of unloading successfully are given to guide the unloading process.