Dimensional Accuracy of a Hole Diameter Produced by Material Extrusion

Abstract

Abstract Three-dimensional printing technology has become one of the key areas of Industry 4.0, as it allows complex geometries to be produced on site without wasting material. However, there are still shortcomings in terms of product quality and cost. Because dimensional accuracy is one of the most important parameters for product quality, researchers are working to improve dimensional accuracy. However, most studies have focused on the dimensional accuracy of holes in the z-axis. Because additive manufacturing is a layer-by-layer manufacturing method, the dimensional accuracy of holes in the x- and y-axes will be very different from that of holes in the z-axis. In this study, the effect of printing parameters on the dimensional accuracy of holes of different diameters and axes produced by additive manufacturing from different materials was investigated. The Taguchi experimental design was used to avoid wastage of material and time. Analysis of variance was used to determine the most effective parameter, and the experimental results were estimated using artificial neural networks. Because of this study, it was concluded that it is not possible to find a single optimum parameter for holes with different axes and diameters. It was observed that as the hole diameter decreased, the heat generated during production affected the dimensional accuracy by heating the previous hole surfaces, and even small holes were not formed in some parameters.