Anisoprint Composer A4 In-Depth Review: Professional Continuous Fiber 3D Printer
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Anisoprint specializes in making interesting 3D printer models capable of printing parts reinforced with continuous carbon- or basalt-fiber. On the Internet, you can find different reviews and webinars about the company's printers, but most of them come down to impressive figures and descriptions of the technology's incredible possibilities. In this video, we would like to review this printer from the end user’s perspective. We will talk about the specifics of its use, limitations, and peculiarities, without boring you with a large number of charts, formulas, and terminology. Still, a little bit of theory might be helpful.
Isotropic materials have the same mechanical properties in all directions, regardless of the load angle. Anisotropic materials, on the contrary, are characterized by different properties in different directions. For example, carbon and basalt fibers feature very high tensile strength along the fibers, but it takes much less force to break them across. It looks like anisotropy of the material could be considered a disadvantage. But with the correct load calculation and the appropriate algorithm for laying the fibers, it is possible to obtain lightest parts with the strength concentrated in the proper areas and maintained at the corresponding load angles.
In recent years, so-called composite, or more correctly, filled filaments, have become popular in 3D printing. They are two-component materials consisting of thermoplastic and carbon- or glass-fiber filler. Such filaments are stronger, stiffer, and show less shrinkage than basic thermoplastics. But carbon and glass fibers are added to such filaments in a milled form. Thus, one of the most useful properties of the fibers, namely the highest tensile strength, is almost totally lost in filled filaments.
Composite materials made of continuous fibers have been utilized in manufacturing for quite a long time. They are a kind of fabric with carbon or basalt fiber being used instead of threads. The fiber can be either one-directional or laid at different angles in several layers. We will not go into detail, except to say that such materials naturally possess good strength properties, but, on the other hand, they have their drawbacks as well.
In addition, there is a way to create so-called mesh structures made of continuous fibers. Such a method, with proper load calculations, makes it possible to create more durable, still several times lighter in weight, parts, compared to similar aluminum models, for example. Such use of fibers allows making the best out of anisotropy.
Based on their experience with such types of carbon and basalt fiber laying, Anisoprint engineers created their proprietary 3D printing technology, which they call anisoprinting.
Those following the development of additive manufacturing long enough are aware that a similar technology has already been used by the Markforged company. And they are really much alike. However, there are a few noteworthy differences — we will touch upon them in the course of our review.
Now let's take a closer look at the printer. We have the most compact model of Anisoprint 3D printers — that is the Composer A4. We should mention that this particular sample has been displayed at many exhibitions and printed a huge amount of parts. So don't be surprised that it doesn’t look brand new. As long as Anisoprint is constantly refining and improving their printer models, some parts may appear to be slightly different from what is being produced at the moment. However, the operation principle and basic idea remain the same.
The design of the Composer A4 does not differ much from most 3D printers we are used to. The build area is 297 x 210 x 140 mm.
The frame is made of 8 mm aluminum, which gives the printer a large margin of safety, the device feels very reliable. The printer is lined with acrylic sheeting. It has two doors with magnetic locks at the front. On top of the machine is a hinged cover. It can be opened when printing low-melting materials to avoid overheating of the plastic. When printing with high-temperature filaments prone to shrinkage, the top cover and front doors can be closed to create a passive heated chamber. In the right top corner at the back, there is an exhaust fan that automatically turns on when the temperature inside reaches 60 °C.
The kinematic scheme here is classic CoreXY. The print head is moved with two long 8 mm belts produced by the Gates company. The X and Y axes move along high-quality 12 mm Hiwin rails. They are driven by Nema 17 stepper motors mounted at the front of the printer.
