Experimental and Thermal Modeling of Beeswax-Filled Extruder via Solidwork for Batik Printing

The advances made in printing technology have recently been adapted for batik wax printing processes. The thermal system of the batik printer’s extruder is critical as non-uniform beeswax’s temperature distribution leads to inconsistent deposition of wax lines, clogging at the extruder’s nozzle, and wax spillage. Therefore, this study aims to validate the thermal model for the beeswax-filled extruder and obtain a description of the thermal distribution of the beeswax in the extrusion chamber at various heat inputs. A 3D model of the newly designed batik wax extruder was constructed in SolidWorks. Subsequently, the Thermal Analysis SolidWorks was used to assign the 3D model with appropriate material properties, boundary conditions, and mesh to simulate the thermal model. Comparative analysis between actual and simulated temperature showed almost similar readings with differences of less than 4%, indicating a significant thermal model. Further simulations of the beeswax in the extruder chamber at a heat input of 70, 77 and 85 ℃ revealed a temperature drop of less than 2 ℃. The results of the simulations indicated that heat was nearly uniformly distributed along the length of the extrusion chamber. Thus, it is anticipated that the possibility of intermittent wax spillage and clogging is remote for the batik printer. The satisfactory heating response indicates that the in-house designed extruder system can be used for the direct deposition of continuous wax lines for batik printing applications.