FPD – Fast Plastic Deposit: Development of a high-speed extrusion-based additive manufacturing system

Fast Plastic Deposit (FPD) is an extrusion-based additive manufacturing (AM) technology developed by the authors to overcome the thermal, rheological, and dynamic limitations characteristic of high-speed and large-format Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM). The proposed approach integrates a multi-zone melt-conditioning block, reinforced high-torque filament feeding, a dual-nozzle deposition architecture, and predictive extrusion control. These features enable volumetric flow rates that significantly exceed those achievable with conventional desktop and industrial FDM systems. A prototype machine incorporating a 1 × 1 × 1 m heated chamber was constructed and subjected to extensive thermal, geometric, rheological, and mechanical testing. The results demonstrated melt-pool stability, volumetric flow rates above 25 g/min, and dimensional accuracy within ±0.1 mm, while maintaining consistent surface quality. Additionally, the printing time for a 5.5 kg demonstrator part was reduced by more than 60% compared with a professional FDM platform. These findings position FPD as a viable methodology for high-throughput polymer AM applications.