This paper analyses temperature fields and their variations in fused filament fabrication (FFF) from the filament entering the hot-end to the printed parts, aiming at a deeper understanding of the thermal process of this additive manufacturing technology. A standard E3D print head assembly was mounted on a robot arm for printing. A stable filament feeding region was determined with an upper limit in the volume flow rate at different nozzle temperatures. Within the limit, the steady state temperature fields inside the hotend were studied by a computational fluid dynamics model. Simulations indicated that the temperature became less homogeneous at higher flow rates, leading to a lower extrudate temperature at the nozzle outlet.These outlet temperatures were analysed, validated, and used as input to simulate temperature variations in printed parts with a self-developed open-access numerical model. An inter-layer time similarity rule was found in printing single-walled geometries, which specifies temperature similarities at the same inter-layer time. The findings provide new insights into FFF processes, pointing out opportunities for improved production efficiency and scalability to large scale manufacturing.
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