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Peristaltic pump with ceramic?

Posted by jamesshuang 
Peristaltic pump with ceramic?
September 24, 2013 06:25PM
Has anyone tried to make a peristaltic pump for clay or ceramic printing before? All the designs for clay extrusion mostly use syringes / plungers, or augers. The auger designs sound like they have wear issues. I was imagining using thin rubber tubing inside a peristaltic pump, feeding into a much stiffer tube that connects to a syringe needle.
Re: Peristaltic pump with ceramic?
October 12, 2013 06:05PM
So, just wanted to post this in case any one wanted to try -- a peristaltic pump will NOT pump thick pastes like ceramic or clay. I went through the trouble of designing and printing one, only to find out that the clay is too thick be sucked into the pump. The only thing driving clay into the pump is the springiness of the tube, which is not even close to sucking up anything more viscous than a thin slurry.

The alternative is to feed the clay into the pump using positive pressure, such as using an air compressor. But then, why even bother with a peristaltic pump in that setup? The discontinuous motion is problematic, and you might as well just use a solenoid valve in that case.
nof
Re: Peristaltic pump with ceramic?
December 13, 2013 08:01AM
But a peristatic pump fed with the paste/clay under pressure will give good control of the flow if you will use a stepper motor for the pump.
A2
Re: Peristaltic pump with ceramic?
December 13, 2013 03:13PM
There is a pressure drop between adjacent pistons in the peristaltic pump.
Cole-Parmer sells Peristaltic Pump Pulse Dampener: $467.00 USD/EACH.
This is a hydraulic accumulator. There is an accumulator in the cold water tank of homes with well water. smiling smiley
Gas charged accumulators are preferred.

Hydraulic accumulator
[en.wikipedia.org]

If there is no pressure drop then the addition of a pressure chamber would have utility.

Peristaltic pump + Hydraulic accumulator Advantages:
You could have a really large reservoir of clay,
Make it easier to charge.
Remove the weight from the end effector.

You would want your slip to be the consistency of toothpaste.
I'm guessing about ~2 bars of pressure over a Dia 1.00" inch chamber to push toothpaste clay consistency through a ~1.00 mm catheter.
What kind of pressure over a Dia 10.00" inch pressurized chamber?
Would it be dangerous?
Re: Peristaltic pump with ceramic?
April 01, 2014 11:12AM
You need a progressive cavity pump. Look at Netzsch.
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