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

The geometry of the Moineau pump

The Moineau pump was invented in 1931 by the French engineer Rene ́ Moineau and exhibits an intriguing geometry. The original design is based on hypo- and epi-cycloids and all except one design has either cusps or less severe inflexion points with infinite curvature. By using the support function to represent planar curves it is possible to make an explicit analysis of a general design and we can show that points of infinite curvature are unavoidable