CFD Analysis on Extrusion of Slurry
in Direct Ink Writing
E. Balasubramanian, Yogesh Kumar, Nishant Kumar Raj, S. Smruthi,
and P. Vikram
Abstract Direct ink writing (DIW) is one of the additive manufacturing (AM) technologies being widely utilized to produce functional parts from a complex threedimensional (3D) computer-aided design (CAD) model without the need of dies,
molds, jigs, fixtures and other expensive tools. Recently, screw-type extruder become
very vital to handle high viscosity slurry and uniform dispersion of material from
the micronozzle for achieving high-dimensional accuracy is extremely essential to
fabricate parts using DIW. In this article, computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis is performed to simulate the extrusion behavior of the slurry having viscosity
in the order of 50,000 poise. Through varying the inlet velocity of slurry for various
viscosities, CFD analysis is carried out to determine the maximum pressure developed at the top of feed zone. In addition, extrusion behavior is studied for the cases
of increase in the speed of screw spindle and varying mass flow rate. Experiments
are performed to measure the viscosity of the slurry with respect to shear rate. Theoretical calculations are compared with CFD analysis results and they are in good
agreement in predicting the inlet pressure.
E. Balasubramanian (B)
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vel Tech Rangarajan Dr. Sagunthala R&D
Institute of Science & Technology, Chennai, India
e-mail: balasubramaniane@veltech.edu.in
Y. Kumar · N. K. Raj · S. Smruthi · P. Vikram
Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Vel Tech Rangarajan Dr. Sagunthala R&D
Institute of Science & Technology, Chennai, India
e-mail: vtu8155@veltechuniv.edu.in
N. K. Raj
e-mail: vtu8056@veltechuniv.edu.in
S. Smruthi
e-mail: vtu10147@veltechuniv.edu.in
P. Vikram
e-mail: vikram.veeran@gmail.com
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
N. Gascoin and E. Balasubramanian (eds.), Innovative Design, Analysis
and Development Practices in Aerospace and Automotive Engineering, Lecture Notes
in Mechanical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6619-6_7
61
in Direct Ink Writing
E. Balasubramanian, Yogesh Kumar, Nishant Kumar Raj, S. Smruthi,
and P. Vikram
Abstract Direct ink writing (DIW) is one of the additive manufacturing (AM) technologies being widely utilized to produce functional parts from a complex threedimensional (3D) computer-aided design (CAD) model without the need of dies,
molds, jigs, fixtures and other expensive tools. Recently, screw-type extruder become
very vital to handle high viscosity slurry and uniform dispersion of material from
the micronozzle for achieving high-dimensional accuracy is extremely essential to
fabricate parts using DIW. In this article, computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis is performed to simulate the extrusion behavior of the slurry having viscosity
in the order of 50,000 poise. Through varying the inlet velocity of slurry for various
viscosities, CFD analysis is carried out to determine the maximum pressure developed at the top of feed zone. In addition, extrusion behavior is studied for the cases
of increase in the speed of screw spindle and varying mass flow rate. Experiments
are performed to measure the viscosity of the slurry with respect to shear rate. Theoretical calculations are compared with CFD analysis results and they are in good
agreement in predicting the inlet pressure.
E. Balasubramanian (B)
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vel Tech Rangarajan Dr. Sagunthala R&D
Institute of Science & Technology, Chennai, India
e-mail: balasubramaniane@veltech.edu.in
Y. Kumar · N. K. Raj · S. Smruthi · P. Vikram
Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Vel Tech Rangarajan Dr. Sagunthala R&D
Institute of Science & Technology, Chennai, India
e-mail: vtu8155@veltechuniv.edu.in
N. K. Raj
e-mail: vtu8056@veltechuniv.edu.in
S. Smruthi
e-mail: vtu10147@veltechuniv.edu.in
P. Vikram
e-mail: vikram.veeran@gmail.com
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
N. Gascoin and E. Balasubramanian (eds.), Innovative Design, Analysis
and Development Practices in Aerospace and Automotive Engineering, Lecture Notes
in Mechanical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6619-6_7
61