The Gantry System was created using 3D printed parts, electrical conduit railings, timing belts, and five stepper motors. The design was adopted and created using the guidelines of the MPCNC, an open-source project from V1 Engineering. 

The system is capable of motion in the X, Y, and Z directions and is able to print in a 0.0283 m³ (1 ft³) print bed meeting the functional requirements. 

The purpose of the nozzle was to act as an aid in the argon recirculation cycle and to deliver fresh argon onto the printing area. The fresh argon was supplied using an argon tank which was led to the inlet of the manifold, into the nozzle, and then directly onto the printing area in a halo shape. The flow of argon through the nozzle was able to be delivered at a rate lower than 2 m/s so as to not disturbed thin layers of metal powder used in metal printing. 

Ultimately, the final design was capable of aiding the argon recirculation cycle and deliver fresh argon to the printing area keeping the oxygen concentration below 1%. 

The blower was essential in the design of the fluidics loop as it drove the extraction of argon fumes, aided the argon recirculation cycle, and delivered fresh argon to the inlet of the nozzle leading to the printing bed. The blower used was a GDSTIME DC blower that was controlled using an Arduino Mega 2560. The blower consisted of four pins, power, ground, PWM, and tachometer, with the tachometer being responsible for measuring the RPM in bits.

The purpose of the manifold was to intake argon at its inlet located at the top of the part, separate it into ten-outlet tubes, and then deliver the argon to the tubes of the nozzle which lead to the halo diverging ducts. The manifold was capable of delivering a uniform distribution of argon creating a barrier from ambient oxygen in the atmosphere.

The oxygen sensor was a key component in the project as the ultimate goal was to maintain an oxygen concentration of less than 1% on the print bed. The oxygen sensor was mounted in the fume extractor and was able to accurately read oxygen concentration with an accuracy of ±0.1%  .

The figure on the left is a sample test of where the blower's power was kept at constant at 15.6% power throughout the test. For the first 60 seconds, the argon tank flow rate was kept at 20 CFH, however, after the 60-second mark, the flow rate was decreased to 2 CFH showing that the oxygen concentration was still kept at the same steady-state below 1%. It wasn't until the supply of argon to the system was turned off that the oxygen concentration level spiked. This shows that the blower running at 15.6% power is able to maintain the concentration of argon below 1% regardless of a 20 CFH, or lower input flow rate. 

This surface plot is a three-dimensional plot that shows the oxygen concentration in relation to the argon flow rate (CFH) and the PWM input % which in this case is the blower power. Shades that are green in the plot are CFH and PWM input % combinations that will result in the desired oxygen concentration of 1%. From the plot, it is evident that as the PWM input % increases, so does the concentration of oxygen on the print bed. 

The surface plot on the left is a two dimensional plot that shows the configurations of PWM inputs and argon tank flow rates that can achieve the desired 1% oxygen concentration on the print bed or lower. Several tests were run with such said configurations and the data shows that lower PWM inputs  from either 5 CFH up to 20 CFH can achieve the goal.