3243/JN - Fused Filament 3D Printer

With co-funding from the European Regional Development Fund, the University of Sheffield has established a flagship national Translation Energy Research Centre (TERC) - a multitechnology, integrated platform for research, development and innovation at pilot-scale, to understand and demonstrate green energy solutions for a secure, affordable and sustainable energy system. It is one of the largest and best-equipped research and development facilities in Europe for zero-carbon energy, hydrogen, bioenergy, CCUS and combustion. Low-carbon, sustainable energy (heat/power) generation is a key priority for the UK and internationally, with significant global opportunities for technology development and commercialisation. The centre has a range of novel pilot scale technologies and is continuously evolving to meet industrial research requirements. Often there is a need to design and manufacture proptypes, jigs, parts and tools quickly and effectively in order to react to the needs of the research programme. Therefore, the operational team is exploring the use of 3D printing technologies to support these activities. The TERC operational team has explored a range of 3D printing technologies and whilst metal based printers offer high performance, the complexity of design, print time, build restriction and multiphased manufacture process mean that this technology is not considered suitable for the required application. Furthermore, manufactured parts will need to endure reasonably high temperatures and possess reasonably high strength properties, so base level plastic printing methods are not considered adequate. Therefore, the operational team is looking to procure a composite based 3D printing system, capable of providing the desired flexibility as well as strength, accuracy and size of the application summarised in the technical specification.