Multifunctional Printhead of a 3D Printer Allowing for Real-Time Quality Control for Manufactured Parts

The work presents the results of the project, that aimed at designing, manufacturing and testing a prototype of a mechatronic device – a multifunctional 3D printer head operating in Material Extrusion (MEX) technology, enabling real-time control of print quality. Infrared cameras mounted in the developed head were used to control printing parameters. The authors describe the prototyping process of the proposed design solution, including the two variants: a demonstrative one and a target one installed in a high-temperature printer. In addition, the work reports the results of the analysis of thermograms carried out to confirm the assumed functionality of the designed mechatronic solution. The discussed analysis of the head operating conditions also includes presentation of the tests performed for the selected scenarios of controlled failure during printing.