Numerical Simulation of Particle Flow Behaviors in the Screw Extruder Based on 3D Printing

In this paper, the structures of feed zone and extrusion zone of the screw extruder applied in the fused deposition modeling technology were designed, and the particle flow behaviors in the extruder was investigated by the discrete element method. In this work, the effect of thread shape, vertical position of the screw and static friction coefficient between particles on the particle flow behaviors were investigated. Moreover, the effect of structure parameters on the particle mass flux and relative standard deviation of velocity was concluded. The simulation results showed that the maximum range of extrusion particle mass flux was obtained when the trapezoidal thread was adopted. The vertical position of the screw has little effect on the outlet particle mass flux. Moreover, with increasing the static friction coefficient between particles, the particle mass flux of extruded particles decreases, and the particle velocity at outlet is more evenly distributed.