Conceptual design and development of a progressive cavity pump for extrusion-based additive manufacturing applications

The present study aimed to develop a low-cost, scalable, easy-to-clean extrusion system based on the progressive cavity pump (PCP) principle for extrusion-based additive manufacturing, with a specific focus on bioprinting. Therefore, the study proposes a spiral development model to achieve a novel PCP with the help of additive manufacturing (AM). An application programming interface was developed to enable quick design iterations. User requirements were determined through literature research, a user questionnaire and interviews. Consequently, three novel PCP concepts were designed and developed using the developed model, and the proof of concept for the selected PCP design was presented.