Effect of process parameters on dynamic mechanical performance of FDM PC/ABS printed parts through design of experiment

© 2016, ASM International. In fused deposition modeling (FDM) additive manufacturing process, it is often difficult to determine the actual levels of process parameters in order to achieve the best dynamic mechanical properties of FDM manufactured part. This is mainly due to the large number of FDM parameters and a high degree of interaction between the parameters affecting such properties. This requires a large number of experiments to be determined. This paper presents a study on the influence of six FDM process parameters (layer thickness, air gap, raster angle, build orientation, road width, and number of contours) on the dynamic mechanical properties of the FDM manufactured parts using the fraction factorial design. The most influential parameters were statistically obtained through the analysis of variance (ANOVA) technique, and the results indicate that the layer thickness, the air gap, and the number of contours have the largest impact on dynamic mechanical properties. The optimal parameters for maximum dynamic mechanical properties were found to be layer thickness of 0.3302 mm, air gap of 0.00 mm, raster angle of 0.0°, build orientation of 0.0°, road width of 0.4572 mm, and 10 contours. Finally, a confirmation experiment was performed using optimized levels of process parameters, which showed good fit with the estimated values.