The present invention relates to a fiber production system (1) and production method which enables heat treatment applied during fiber production to be performed as applying laser on the fiber. The objective of the present invention is to provide a fiber production system (1) and production method which enables to perform momentary heat treatment on the filament (F) via laser beam (L) and which eliminates defected points in the filament structure by heating fast and drawing in fiber production.

Multi-material, three-dimensional fabrication is improved by the use of a purge wall adjacent to an object to absorb transitional artifacts of material changes. The structure of the purge wall may be selected to reduce build time, and to reduce certain printing artifacts such as warping and delaminating. For example, alternating layers of offset or mirrored zigzag patterns may be used to reduce and distribute the layer-to-layer adhesion surfaces throughout the purge wall while providing sufficient contact points to maintain the structural integrity of the purge wall.

Apparatus and methods for extruding plastic materials are disclosed. An exemplary apparatus comprises: a feeding portion; a melting portion in communication with the feeding portion and configured to transmit heat into material received from the feeding portion; and an output die in communication with the melting portion to permit extrusion of the material. The melting portion comprises: a melting barrel having an inner surface defining a melting chamber in communication with the feeding portion; and a melting insert inside the melting chamber. The melting insert comprises an outer surface in contact with the inner surface of the melting barrel where the outer surface comprises one or more open-ended channels formed therein. In some embodiments, the feeding portion and the melting portion may be thermally insulated from each other and a propeller of the feeding portion may be disposed entirely outside of the melting portion.