Characterization and dynamic mechanical analysis of PC-ABS material processed by fused deposition modelling: An investigation through I-optimal response surface methodology

Abstract

Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is one of the most widely used layered manufacturing technology in various industries due to its capability to create complex parts at the lowest cost. But when it comes to the mechanical properties, the advantage of FDM is not ideal for every application. This is due to the fact that the mechanical properties of the fabricated parts by FDM strongly related to the fabrication parameters in which the material is being processed, and so how to improve them is worthy of study. Many researchers have examined the influence of varying parameters on the characteristics of FDM manufactured prototypes. FDM manufactured parts are always subjected to static and dynamic loading conditions in a wide range of industries. However, former researches only focused on the mechanical properties under static loading conditions, but none of them provided a systematic study on the effect of FDM fabrication parameters on the mechanical performance under thermal-mechanical cyclic loading. This study investigates the effect of manufacturing parameters on dynamic mechanical performance of the processed parts by FDM through computer-generated optimal design based on I-optimal design. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) was used to study the microstructures of some specimens. The results show that dynamic mechanical performance of the manufactured parts is greatly influenced by processing conditions. The results also show that computer-generated optimal design based on I-optimal design is superior over the conventional experimental designs as it is able to simultaneously consider several factors at different levels with less number of experiments than traditional designs.