SPbGUPTD: 3D printer for printing from wood flour

2024: Product Announcement

In St. Petersburg, scientists have developed and implemented a device for 3D printing of products from a mixture of wood flour and polymer. This became known in mid-August 2024. The new technology, created by employees of the St. Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design (SPbGUPTD), has been successfully tested and is already being used at one of the city's factories.

According to TASS, the new technology makes it possible to effectively use sawdust raw materials formed during the woodworking process. Modern methods of 3D printing of sawdust products have previously encountered the problem of clogging printer nozzles with large particles of material, which significantly slowed down the production process. Innovation of scientists of the St. Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design (solves this problem by combining two printed technologies - FDM and LDM.

source = SPbGUPTD

Nikolay Evdokimov, senior lecturer at the Department of Engineering Graphics and Computer Aided Design of St. Petersburg State Pedagogical University, explained that the device works as follows: using FDM technology, a form of a product made of water-soluble plastic is printed, after which the form is filled with a mixture of modified epoxy resin and wood flour using LDM printing. As a result of this combination, it is possible to obtain a smooth surface of the article, which does not require additional processing.

After the article hardens, it is placed in an ultrasonic bath with water, where the water-soluble plastic dissolves, leaving a solid part of wood flour and polymer. The development has already demonstrated its effectiveness in production, where imported blades for moving packaging on the conveyor were successfully replaced by stronger blades printed using the SPbGUPTD method.^[1]

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