Filament Heads

Hot Flow is our term for filament-based materials which are deposited at over 150°C, depending on the head.

Note that at present, our Hot Flow heads work with 1.75mm filament (actually, 1.6mm to 1.9mm), but not 3mm filament.

Materials for Hot Flow

The following materials can be printed from Hot Flow heads.

• ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene)
  • Flame Retardant ABS
  • ABS - PC Alloy
  • Conductive ABS
  • Smart ABS
• BendLay
• Flex 45
• HIPS (High-Impact PolyStyrene)
• LayBrick
• LayWoo-d3
• MoldLay
• Ninjaflex
• Nylon
  • Taulman 618, 645, 910
• PC (PolyCarbnoate)
• PEI (PolyEtherImide) - AKA Ultem
• PEEK (PolyEther Ether Ketone)
• PET (PolyEthylene Terephthalate)
• PETG PolyEthylene Terephthalate Glycol-modified)
• PLA (PolyLactic Acid)
  • EcoFlex PLA
  • Conductive PLA
  • SS PLA (Stainless Steel infused)
• PlastInk_Rubber
• PP (PolyPropylene)
• PVA (PolyVinyl Alcohol)
• T-Glase
• Ultem

Heads for Hot Flow

Hot Flow is available through the following heads:

• 

  MK1-250

• 

  MK2-250

• 

  MK1-450

1. General MK Series:
   1. MK Series Printing Tips
   2. Post Processing with a Heat Gun
   3. Loading and Unloading Filament in the MK Series head
2. MK1-250 Extruder for Standard Filaments:
   1. Overview
   2. Loading and Printing
3. MK2-250 Extruder for Flexible Filaments:
   1. Overview
   2. Loading and Printing
4. MK1-450 Extruder for High-Temperature Filaments:
   1. Overview
   2. Loading and Printing

The following table compares the properties of the various Hot Flow heads, including which heads are recommended for which materials. The MK1 heads drive matieral from one side, with a spring-loaded bearing system to maintain pressure and positioning. The MK2 heads drive the material from both sides, and are designed for more flexible filaments.

Hot Flow Head Properties

Head	Min Temp	Max Temp	Filament Type	Nozzle	Recommended For
MK1-250	150°C	250°C	Standard	.35mm, .50mm, .75mm, 1.0mm	ABS, HIPS, LayBrick, LayWood, Nylon, PC, PET, PETG, PETT, PLA, PP, PVA, T-Glase
MK2-250	150°C	250°C	Flexible	.35mm, .50mm, .75mm, 1.0mm	BendLay, EcoFlex PLA, FilaFlex, Flex45, Ninjaflex, PlastInk Rubber
MK1-450	250°C	450°C	Engineering	.50mm	PEEK, PEI (Ultem)

Research Papers Citing Hyrel Hot Flow

• Button-Shaped RFID Tag Combining Three-Dimensional and Inkjet Printing Technologies, The IET Digital Library.
• Demonstration and Characterization of Fully 3D-printed RF Structures, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Incorporated (IEEE)
• Infill Dependent 3D-Printed Material Based on NinjaFlex Filament for Antenna Applications, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Incorporated (IEEE)
• A Novel Strain Sensor Based on 3D Printing Technology and 3D Antenna Design, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Incorporated (IEEE)
• A Novel 3-D Printed Loop Antenna Using Flexible NinjaFlex Material for Wearable and IoT Applications, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Incorporated (IEEE)
• RF Characterization of 3D Printed Flexible Materials - NinjaFlex Filaments, The European Microwave Association (EuMA)
• Nano-Material Based Flexible Radio Frequency Sensors for Wearable Health and Environment Monitoring: Designs and Prototypes Utilizing 3D/Inkjet Printing Technologies, A Dissertation Presented to The Academic Faculty of The School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech

Settings for Hot Flow Heads

Some settings for the MK-Type heads (like temperature, prime/unprime values) will vary, depending on what material you are printing with. Nozzle diameter should accurately reflect what nozzle you have loaded (0.5mm is default) AND what path width you sliced for (recipe path or extrusion width should be nozzle diameter plus 10%). Having said that, here are our default shipping settings:

Settings	MK1-250, MK2-250	MK1-450 (formerly -350 or -400)	MK1-650*	MK1-850*
Material
Type	(any)	(any)	(any)	(any)
Color	(any)	(any)	(any)	(any)
Nozzle	0.500	0.500	0.500	0.500
Layer	(any)	(any)	(any)	(any)
Temp Info
Print Temp	240	410	800	1200
Power Factor	100	100	100	100
Minimum	(any)	(any)	(any)	(any)
Maximum	(any)	(any)	(any)	(any)
Overrides
Pulses	0.78	0.78	0.78	0.78
Feed Rate %	1.000	1.000	1.000	1.000
Prime Please note that Prime values will vary greatly from those shown, depending on the flexibility of your material.
Steps	200	200	200	200
Rate	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000
Dwell Time (ms)	50	50	50	50
Before Tool Change	2	2	2	2
Unprime Please note that Unprime values will vary greatly from those shown, depending on the flexibility of your material.
Steps	200	200	200	200
Rate	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000
Dwell Time (ms)	50	50	50	50
After Tool Change	2	2	2	2
Offsets
Clone Head	Off	Off	Off	Off
X	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000
Y	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000
Z	0,000	0,000	0,000	0,000
Head Info
Model	250	350	650	850
RTD Type	1 Meg	1 Meg	1 Meg	1 Meg
Motor Current	High	High	High	High
Step Mode	Sixteenth	Sixteenth	Sixteenth	Sixteenth
*In development.