Optimization of MEW instrument components and their assembly

In recent years, a new additive manufacturing technology Melt Electrowriting (MEW) has become attractive, especially for biomedical applications, and it has potential in many other fields as well. In order to carry out an in-depth study of melt electrowriting in the future, this project aims at two parts: designing and assembling a melt electrowriting instrument; and testing the printing performance of melt electrowriting. The final version of MEW instrument meets all the requirements and is capable of printing straight fibres under control. The printhead fixture provides a range of movement of 110.4 mm in the Z-direction of the nozzle. The nozzle is located in the middle of the collector and can be moved horizontally by moving the platform. The printhead fixture does not interfere with the movement of the XY stage. The dimensions of the enclosure are 800 mm x 650 mm x 650 mm, providing additional space for internal operations. There are 5 windows in the enclosure to create a stable environment inside the enclosure and maintain user visibility. The material of the enclosure and printhead fixture is nonconductive anodised aluminium. The total cost is 1982.4 CHF. After assembling the instrument, three tests were carried out to test the printing process: a critical translation speed (CTS) test, an inter-fibre distance test, and an overhang and fibre stacking test. CTS test result : the conversion of sinusoidal fiber to linear fiber indicates that the CTS is 6.6 mm/s In the results, the CTS is 6.6 mm/sec and the minimum inter-fibre distance is 50 μm. Overhanging structures and fibre stacks can be printed, but they need to be precisely controlled. Establishing an integrated control system and investigating optimised parameters are future tasks.