Anatomy of Sigma & Sigmax R19 extrusion system: Partnering with e3D™ & Bondtech™ manufacturers

Throughout this white paper, we examine what makes the anatomy of our BCN 3D Sigma and Sigmax R19 extrusion system unique, and explain our reasoning for employing the use of industry-leading components: Bondtech™ extruders, BCN3D Hotends by e3D™  and Filament Runout Sensors.

It is of the utmost importance to have a reliable extrusion system installed in your printer to ensure the best results from your prints. In our BCN3D BCN 3D Sigma R19 and Sigmax R19 printers, the extrusion system is responsible for pushing raw material through the Filament Runout Sensor. This then enters the Bondtech™ Extruder to feed through the e3D™ Hotend and create your print.

 

E3D™ Hotends

The hotend is the component of an FDM 3D printer that heats, melts and extrudes the material layer by layer through a nozzle:

 

The way heat is transferred through the hotend defines its difference in quality and reliability. Since every hotend has its own structure for conducting heat, each will have its own tolerance around the real temperature:

The way heat is transferred through the hotend defines its difference in quality and reliability. The reliability of a hotend can be calculated through the temperature difference between the expected target temperature and the temperature actually reached.

While the standard hotend has a maximum difference of  ±2ºC from the real temperature, BCN3D hotends by e3D™ maintain a tighter tolerance of ±0.5ºC.

DISCOVER WITH OUR FREE E-BOOK THE ANATOMY OF AN EXTRUSION SYSTEM 

 

We analysed the heat dissipation through thermal simulations by using PLA filament and heating the hotend at 220ºC (493 K):

The BCN3D hotends by e3D™ easily dissipate the heat with the high-performance heat sink and its number of lateral fins. 

Bondtech™ Extruders

An extruder is the motor and its associated mechanisms that push and pull filament from the spool to the hotend:

The main difference between Bondtech™ and other extruder manufacturers is the fact that the Bondtech™ system consists of two high precision, CNC machined and hardened steel drive gears, opposed to the majority of other brands which have only one drive gear. The symmetrical force from two gears helps to secure the filament grip from both sides and minimizes the risk for under extrusion, filament deformation and grinding.

The Gear Ratio is the relation between the torque supplied by the motor and the Pushing Force of the filament. For Bondtech™ extruders it is be considered balanced, meaning that the extruder is able to feed relative fast extrusion prints and deal with fast retractions. The Gear Ratio increases the resolution of the system, as the extruder is able to supply more Pushing Force, allowing the printer to work with low layer heights.

Pushing Force for Bondtech™ Extruders is considerably higher than for any other standard extruder for all the studied materials. 

Filament Runout Sensor

Another feature is that of the Filament Runout Sensor (FRS), which improves BCN3D printers reliability and offers a solution to the problems of runout filament. This mechanical switch detects filament presence, meaning that in the case of filament running out during a print job the printer will automatically pause and warn the user, saving both time and costs.

 

Read our white paper to find out more about our decision to equip our Sigma R19 and Sigmax R19 with these elite extrusion systems.