Ziervogel, F.F.ZiervogelBoxberger, L.L.BoxbergerBucht, A.A.BuchtDrossel, W.-G.W.-G.Drossel2022-03-062022-03-062021https://publica.fraunhofer.de/handle/publica/26857310.1109/ACCESS.2021.3065873Additive manufacturing is establishing new forms of manufacturing processes to produce functional parts. It is thus seen as a hope for a shift towards decentralised production and the associated positive effects on the environment. The most widespread process, Fused Filament Fabrication, already impresses with a large variety of materials and the possibility of including non-polymeric additives as fibre materials. To support this development, this paper describes a form of wire implementation as an add-on for existing FFF systems, that can be realised without major changes to hardware or software. The aim is to integrate electrical functions directly into the component - in one manufacturing process. The process is based on a hybrid material made of PLA with a copper core, which was developed in advance. Within this work, two retrofittable units for FFF printers are described, which cut a continuous wire with a diameter of 0.2 mm embedded in a polymer in a fully automatic manner. Furthermore, two thermal contacting processes are presented, which make it possible to contact the embedded wire via the heated extruder nozzle and metallic inserts. Thereby, a best contact resistance of 0.009 ± 0.0023 O (50% confidence interval) could be achieved for a screw contact. For a plug-in or solder contacts, a contact resistance of 0.059 ± 0.028O (50% confidence interval) was realised. In terms of process technology, the wire deposition within the plastic structure could be reliably realised at printing speeds of 10 mm/s on straight sections and 1 mm/s in curves with a radius of 5 mm. The developed process was successfully validated using a functional demonstrator. The functional sample can be selectively heated to the glass transition temperature and reversibly formed. In summary, the developed methods are suitable for cost-effectively expanding existing FFF systems to integrate electrical functions during the 3D printing process.en620670journal article