Calibration method for constant strands of material with robot-assisted concrete extrusion

Robot-assisted concrete extrusion is a complex, new type of additive manufacturing process in which strategy, material and conveyor system must be specifically coordinated with one another. In particular, the real shape of the extruded material strand is subject to significant fluctuations along the starting point, via the main extrusion phase, until the switch-off process due to local over- and under-extrusions, which usually do not meet the quality requirements. In this work, an efficient calibration process is used to develop the calibration method for the extrusion process according to the algorithm developed, to adjust and test it on the software side, and to examine the effects of the feed rate on the component quality. In this article, the efficient calibration of the extrusion process according to the developed method is compensated on the software side and the effects of the feed rate on the component quality are investigated. For this purpose, different calibration methods of current additive manufacturing processes were considered and evaluated with regard to their usability for the extrusion of mineral suspensions. Building on this, a general procedure for calibration and its practical implementation was theoretically developed. In the function tests carried out the method reduced the process preparation, increased process reliability through the stabilized extrusion and shortened the cycle time. This increase in productivity in additive manufacturing allows the use of high-strength lightweight structures in construction and enables the serial implementation of free-form modular designs.

Automated summary

This study focuses on the robot-assisted concrete extrusion additive manufacturing process and develops an efficient calibration method to improve component quality and productivity. Experimental results show that the method not only reduces process preparation and cycle time, but also enhances process reliability through stabilized extrusion.