Best Material for Peristaltic Pump?

[frank26080115 12]

I need to design a peristaltic pump. It will have a disk diameter of 60 mm, tube diameter of 5mm, spinning at 10 RPM running foe 1.5 hours at a time, pumping a liquid that is 30 deg C and has the viscosity of a blended dinner

I plan on using PLA but I'm not sure if I should due to worries about heat generated by friction and such

I can also print in ABS, but I haven't ever tried ABS yet. I am worried about dimensional accuracy due to shrinkage. The rollers must crush the tubing inside to create a seal, but too tight and I might overheat the motor or cause it to jam.

What do you think?

Thanks

Edited June 27, 2015 by Guest

[ultiarjan 1,223]

ColorfabbXT may be a good alternative. Its easier to print than abs.

[JohnFox 25]

At 10rpm, PLA should be fine, the rollers won't be moving that quickly. You must use grease on the moving parts as the friction between PLA surfaces tends to be quite high. Silicone grease would be good for this, ( or the green grease that Ulitmaker uses ).

What motor will you be using, make sure that doesn't get hot? I use nylon washers between the motor and mount on my pumps, acting as thermal breaks.

ABS would be a better material but it can be a sod to print.

[frank26080115 12]

ColorfabbXT may be a good alternative. Its easier to print than abs.

 

So this exactly http://colorfabb.com/xt-black

? Or did you mean something else?

What about Easyfil ABS?

 

At 10rpm, PLA should be fine, the rollers won't be moving that quickly. You must use grease on the moving parts as the friction between PLA surfaces tends to be quite high. Silicone grease would be good for this, ( or the green grease that Ulitmaker uses ).

What motor will you be using, make sure that doesn't get hot? I use nylon washers between the motor and mount on my pumps, acting as thermal breaks.

ABS would be a better material but it can be a sod to print.

Ball bearings will be used. I have thought about nylon or PTFE spacers, also thought about a cooling fan

Motor will be https://www.servocity.com/html/10_rpm_precision_gear_motor.html

Edited June 28, 2015 by Guest

[ultiarjan 1,223]

Thats what I meant indeed, and note the "XT clear" is a bit cheaper...

I find it easy to print, but it's stringing a lot more that regular PLA, but this is no big deal when printing more mechanical stuff. The same also means that bridging is easier than with PLA.

[JohnFox 25]

If you have a gearbox between the motor and the plastic, that will act as a thermal break.

I was using stepper motors which can get quite hot.

If you are using bearings, then stick to PLA, it's quite tough material, print 0.1mm for strength.

ABS is stronger and easier to smooth but I have had so many print failures due to warping that I have abandoned it.

 

 

ColorfabbXT may be a good alternative. Its easier to print than abs.

 

So this exactly http://colorfabb.com/xt-black

? Or did you mean something else?

What about Easyfil ABS?

 

At 10rpm, PLA should be fine, the rollers won't be moving that quickly. You must use grease on the moving parts as the friction between PLA surfaces tends to be quite high. Silicone grease would be good for this, ( or the green grease that Ulitmaker uses ).

What motor will you be using, make sure that doesn't get hot? I use nylon washers between the motor and mount on my pumps, acting as thermal breaks.

ABS would be a better material but it can be a sod to print.

Ball bearings will be used. I have thought about nylon or PTFE spacers, also thought about a cooling fan

Motor will be https://www.servocity.com/html/10_rpm_precision_gear_motor.html

 

[frank26080115 12]

I think you are right, I received the gearbox yesterday in the mail, and opened it up. The geartrain components were not really big at all.

I begun printing in PLA and it turns out I designed thick enough that PLA doesn't really warp under even the 60C bed heat. Shrinkage did occur during print, but only enough to ruin the edges of the bottom layer, nothing important warped and the print is still usable in terms of the nuts and bolts fitting.

Thanks for all the advice so far