Extrusion and Thermal Control Design of an On-orbit 3D Printing Platform

Abstract On-orbit manufacturing can reduce the cost and time needed by space exploration missions because in-situ maintenance activities can be achieved without the need for additional launches. Furthermore, recent developments in materials science in terms of better mechanical and thermal performance have allowed this application to become a potential reality. However, the deployment of on-orbit manufacturing presents several challenges, including the lack of convective heat transfer and human intervention. This paper proposes an on-orbit 3D printing device capable of operating at a temperature up to 400°C in the vacuum environment. To validate its feasibility for on-orbit manufacturing, we designed four extruders with different characteristics. We investigated the temperature profiles across the extruders under the vacuum condition through a heat transfer model. Based on the thermal analysis, a thermal control method, which combines the Proportion (P) and Fuzzy Proportion and Integration (Fuzzy PI) strategies, is designed to regulate the 3D printing device operation. With the extrusion rate of 8654.6 mm3 /h and the printing temperature at 400°C, the melting and solidification status of the PEEK (Polyether ether ketone) material is verified.